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Article

Why are viral genomes so fragile? The bottleneck hypothesis.

PLoS computational biology - 1 Jul 2021

Merleau Nono S C, Pénisson Sophie, Gerrish Philip J, Elena Santiago F, Smerlak Matteo

Abstract excerpt

If they undergo new mutations at each replication cycle, why are RNA viral genomes so fragile, with most mutations being either strongly deleterious or lethal? Here we provide theoretical and numerical evidence for the hypothesis that genetic fragility is partly an evolutionary response to the multiple population bottlenecks experienced by viral populations at various stages of their life cycles. Modelling...

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Identifiers

PMID: 34237053
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009128
PMCID: PMC8291636

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PubMed metadata and Literature Corpus relationships. Corpus snapshot updated 7 Sept 2026. Manifest publication-graph-cohort-2026-09-08.1.

Source receipt: pubmed, retrieved 7 Sept 2026.

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