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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1994 May 24;91(11):4821–4824. doi: 10.1073/pnas.91.11.4821

The red queen reigns in the kingdom of RNA viruses.

D K Clarke 1, E A Duarte 1, S F Elena 1, A Moya 1, E Domingo 1, J Holland 1
PMCID: PMC43880  PMID: 8197141

Abstract

Two clonal populations of vesicular stomatitis virus of approximately equal relative fitness were mixed together and allowed to compete during many transfers in vitro as large virus populations. Eventually, one or the other population suddenly excluded its competitor population, yet both the winners and losers exhibited absolute gains in fitness. Our results agree with the predictions of two major theories of classical population biology; the Competitive Exclusion Principle and the Red Queen's Hypothesis, where (in Lewis Carroll's words) "it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place."

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Selected References

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