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Isolation of Fidelity Variants of RNA Viruses and Characterization of Virus Mutation Frequency
Published on: June 16, 2011
Genetic bottlenecks reduce population variation in an experimental RNA virus population
Hongye Li1, Marilyn J Roossinck
1Plant Biology Division, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, P.O. Box 2180, Ardmore, OK 73402, USA.
Abstract:
Genetic bottlenecks are stochastic events that limit genetic variation in a population and result in founding populations that can lead to genetic drift. Evidence of past genetic bottlenecks in numerous biological systems, from mammals to viruses, has been described. In this study, we used an artificial population of Cucumber mosaic virus consisting of 12 restriction enzyme marker-bearing mutants. This population was inoculated onto young leaves of tobacco plants and monitored throughout the course of systemic infection. We show here that the genetic variation in a defined population of an RNA virus is significantly, stochastically, and reproducibly reduced during the systemic infection process, providing clear evidence of a genetic bottleneck.
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