ArticleVirus evolution2017
Two sides of the same coin: A population genetics perspective on lethal mutagenesis and mutational meltdown.
Article in Virus evolution, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Enlarging viral mutation estimation: a view from the distribution of mutation rates.Microbiology (Reading, England) · 2026Article
- Gain and Loss of Heterozygosity in the Genome of the Asexual Nematode Halicephalobus mephisto.Journal of molecular evolution · 2025Article
- Lethal mutagenesis and the transient within-host dynamics of viral adaptation.Virus evolution · 2025Article
- Sex-specific viability effects of mutations in Drosophila melanogaster.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2024Article
- Genetic consequences of effective and suboptimal dosing with mutagenic drugs in a hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection.Virus evolution · 2024Article
- Mutators can drive the evolution of multi-resistance to antibiotics.PLoS genetics · 2023Article
- The extinction time under mutational meltdown driven by high mutation rates.Ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- The impact of frequently neglected model violations on bacterial recombination rate estimation: a case study in Mycobacterium canettii and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2022Article
- Inferring the distribution of fitness effects in patient-sampled and experimental virus populations: two case studies.Heredity · 2022Article
- Imposed mutational meltdown as an antiviral strategy.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2020Review
- Article
- Mutational load causes stochastic evolutionary outcomes in acute RNA viral infection.Virus evolution · 2019Article
- Experimental adaptation of human echovirus 11 to ultraviolet radiation leads to resistance to disinfection and ribavirin.Virus evolution · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The extinction of RNA virus populations upon application of a mutagenic drug is frequently referred to as evidence for the existence of an error threshold, above which the population cannot sustain the mutational load. To explain the extinction process after reaching this threshold, models of lethal mutagenesis have been proposed, in which extinction is described as a deterministic (and thus population size-independent) process. As a separate body of literature, the population genetics community has developed models of mutational meltdown, which focus on the stochastic (and thus population-size dependent) processes governing extinction. However, recent extensions of both models have blurred these boundaries. Here, we first clarify definitions in terms of assumptions, expectations, and relevant parameter spaces, and then assess similarities and differences. As concepts from both fields converge, we argue for a unified theoretical framework that is focused on the evolutionary processes at play, rather than dispute over terminology.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.