Selection-mutation process of RNA viruses

Abstract

RNA viruses mutate at a rate ${10}^{5}\char21{}{10}^{6}$ times faster than their DNA counterparts. This process can be simulated by a continuous stochastic model on a smooth one-dimensional fitness landscape where selection forces the viral quasispecies to climb uphill to higher fitness values. Theoretical results of the model with drift velocity proportional to fitness are fitted to the experimental observations made by Novella et al. [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 92, 5841 (1995)].