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. 1993 Nov 15;90(22):10424–10428. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.22.10424

Punctuated equilibrium and positive Darwinian evolution in vesicular stomatitis virus.

S T Nichol 1, J E Rowe 1, W M Fitch 1
PMCID: PMC47789  PMID: 8248125

Abstract

RNA viruses possess the potential for rapid evolution and serve as excellent models to test evolutionary theory. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of the P gene for a larger number of diverse natural isolates of vesicular stomatitis virus reveals no evidence for a molecular clock but instead shows a stepwise evolutionary pattern unlike that ever seen before. Each step out from the tree's ancestral root to terminal branch tips correlates not with time of virus isolation but with a south-to-north geographical progression from Panama to the United States. The grossly unequal rates of change within this single species imply an underlying mechanism at odds with the prevailing notion that neutral changes are the dominating feature of molecular evolution. This is also a demonstration of punctuated equilibrium at the molecular level.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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