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Arbovirus Infections As Screening Tools for the Identification of Viral Immunomodulators and Host Antiviral Factors
Published on: September 13, 2018
Influence of viral replication mechanisms on within-host evolutionary dynamics
Claude Loverdo1, Miran Park, Sebastian J Schreiber
1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA. loverdo@ucla.edu
Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution
|October 31, 2012
Summary
Viral replication mechanisms significantly impact evolution. Correlated mutations decrease survival but increase population growth, especially when mutations are critical for viral escape.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Mathematical Modeling
Background:
- Viral evolution models typically use only the mean mutation rate, neglecting replication mechanism effects.
- Different viral replication strategies lead to varied mutation distributions in progeny.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how viral replication mechanisms influence early within-host viral evolution dynamics.
- To analyze the impact of mutation distribution (correlated vs. independent) on viral survival and population growth.
Main Methods:
- Developed branching process models for two idealized viral replication scenarios: correlated and independent mutations.
- Studied infection establishment probability with lethal mutations and competition between two viral strains of differing fitness.
Main Results:
- Correlated mutation lineages show lower survival probability compared to independent mutation lineages at the same mean mutation rate.
- Surviving correlated mutation lineages exhibit faster population growth.
- Replication life history significantly impacts viral dynamics, particularly when stochasticity is high and mutations are vital for survival.
Conclusions:
- Viral replication mechanisms, not just mean mutation rates, are critical for understanding viral evolution.
- The distribution of mutations (correlated vs. independent) has profound effects on viral population dynamics and evolutionary trajectories.
- These findings are especially relevant for understanding viral escape dynamics in challenging evolutionary scenarios.
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