Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 5, 2026
11:19
Pairwise Growth Competition Assay for Determining the Replication Fitness of Human Immunodeficiency Viruses
Published on: May 4, 2015
Selection dramatically reduces effective population size in HIV-1 infection.
1Department of Microbiology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, 98195, USA . yiliu197@u.washington.edu
BMC Evolutionary Biology
|May 6, 2008
Summary
Recurrent selection significantly reduces the effective population size (Ne) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) within hosts. This selection pressure, even with high mutation and recombination rates, can decrease HIV-1 Ne by over 300-fold.
Area of Science:
- Population genetics
- Viral evolution
- Molecular biology
Background:
- A large discrepancy exists between census and effective population size (Ne) in HIV-1 evolution.
- High in vivo mutation and recombination rates complicate quantifying selection's effect on HIV-1 Ne.
Purpose of the Study:
- To model the impact of selection on HIV-1 Ne in the presence of mutation and recombination.
- To estimate the reduction in Ne due to selection in biologically realistic scenarios.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the inbreeding coefficient to estimate Ne reduction.
- Employed variance in allele frequency at a linked neutral locus.
- Incorporated biologically realistic mutation and recombination rates.
Main Results:
- Selection strength directly correlates with Ne reduction under realistic mutation rates.
- High recombination rates (r ≥ 0.1) can diminish the dependence of Ne on selection.
- Recurrent selective sweeps can reduce within-host HIV-1 Ne by over 300-fold.
Conclusions:
- Recurrent selection is a major factor reducing in vivo HIV-1 effective population sizes.
- Other factors like unequal reproduction and limited migration also contribute to reduced Ne.
- The model provides quantitative insights into HIV-1 population dynamics.
