title: Quasispecies as a matter of fact: viruses and beyond.
abstract: We review the origins of the quasispecies concept and its relevance for RNA virus evolution, viral pathogenesis and antiviral treatment strategies. We emphasize a critical point of quasispecies that refers to genome collectivities as the unit of selection, and establish parallels between RNA viruses and some cellular systems such as bacteria and tumor cells. We refer also to tantalizing new observations that suggest quasispecies behavior in prions, perhaps as a result of the same quantum-mechanical indeterminations that underlie protein conformation and error-prone replication in genetic systems. If substantiated, these observations with prions could lead to new research on the structure-function relationship of non-nucleic acid biological molecules.
authors.affiliation: California Institute of Technology, Division of Biology, 1200 E California Blvd, 91125 Pasadena, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ojosnegros
authors.forename: Celia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Perales
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mas
authors.forename: Esteban
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Domingo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005075:Biological Evolution; D024882:Drug Resistance, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006801:Humans; D059013:Microbial Consortia; D008954:Models, Biological; D009154:Mutation; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D011328:Prions / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011789:Quantum Theory; D012328:RNA Viruses / Q000235:genetics*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000821:virology; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D011328:Prions