Viral mutation rates

Range RNA phage Qβ 1.5×10^–3: DNA virus herpes simplex virus type 1 1.8×10^–8 mutation/nucleotide/genomic replication
Organism Virus
Reference Duffy S, Shackelton LA, Holmes EC. Rates of evolutionary change in viruses: patterns and determinants. Nat Rev Genet. 2008 Apr9(4):267-76 p.268 left column top paragraphPubMed ID18319742
Primary Source [10] Drake, J. W. Rates of spontaneous mutation among RNA viruses. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 90, 4171–4175 (1993). [11] Drake, J. W. & Hwang, C. B. C. On the mutation rate of herpes simplex virus type 1. Genetics. 170, 969–970 (2005). DOI: 10.1534/genetics.104.040410PubMed ID8387212, 15802515
Comments P.268 left column top paragraph: "There are various estimates of viral mutation rates, reflecting the changes in nucleotide sequence that occur during each round of viral replication (see Box 2 for an explanation of mutation rates and how they are measured). These estimates span several orders of magnitude — from 1.5×10^−3 mutations per nucleotide, per genomic replication (mut/nt/rep) in the single-stranded (ss) RNA phage Qβ [primary source 10], to 1.8×10^−8 mut/nt/rep in the double-stranded (ds) DNA virus herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)[primary source 11]. This range approximately corresponds to the fidelity of the polymerases used in replication: RNA viruses (which utilize RNA-dependent RNA polymerases RdRps) mutate faster than retroviruses (with RNA-dependent DNA polymerases (RdDps) or reverse transcriptases (RTs)), which mutate faster than DNA viruses (with DNA polymerases) (Fig. 1)."
Entered by Uri M
ID 112770