Overall rates of nucleotide substitution

Range nearly all RNA viruses examined 10^–2 to 10^–5: most viruses within one order of magnitude of 10^−3 substitution/site/year
Organism RNA viruses
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.270 right column & p.271 left column top paragraphPubMed ID18319742
Primary Source [32] Jenkins, G. M., Rambaut, A., Pybus, O. G. & Holmes, E. C. Rates of molecular evolution in RNA viruses: a quantitative phylogenetic analysis. J. Mol. Evol. 54, 156–165 (2002). DOI: 10.1007/s00239-001-0064-3 [33] Hanada, K., Suzuki, Y. & Gojobori, T. A large variation in the rates of synonymous substitution for RNA viruses and its relationship to a diversity of viral infection and transmission modes. Mol. Biol. Evol. 21, 1074–1080 (2004). DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msh109PubMed ID11821909, 15014142
Comments P.270 right column to p.271 left column top paragraph: "Substitution rates in RNA viruses. Evolutionary change in many RNA viruses can be easily observed in real time, providing strong evidence for their rapid evolution [ref 7]. For nearly all RNA viruses examined, overall rates of nucleotide substitution fall in the range of 10^−2 to 10^−5 nucleotide substitutions per site, per year (subs/site/year)(primary sources), with most of the viruses exhibiting rates within one order of magnitude of 1×10^−3 subs/site/year. For an RNA virus with a genome of 10 kb, this is equivalent to the fixation of 10 substitutions per genome, per year, although there is a marked absence of estimates of substitution rate in dsRNA viruses. Although rates of non-synonymous substitution vary widely among RNA viruses (and among viral genes), these differences have only a small impact on overall substitution rates. For example, lower rates of non-synonymous change are found in viruses transmitted by arthropod vectors, reflecting the elevated purifying selection pressure that is associated with replication in diverse host species (refs 34, 35, 36, 37)."
Entered by Uri M
ID 112772