Holland J J, De La Torre J C, Steinhauer D A
Department of Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0116.
Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 1992;176:1-20. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-77011-1_1.
RNA virus mutation frequencies generally approach maximum tolerable levels, and create complex indeterminate quasispecies populations in infected hosts. This usually favors extreme rates of evolution, although periods of relative stasis or equilibrium, punctuated by rapid change may also occur (as for other life forms). Because complex quasispecies populations of RNA viruses arise probabilistically and differentially in every host, their compositions and exact roles in disease pathogenesis are indeterminate and their directions of evolution, and the nature and timing of "new" virus outbreaks are unpredictable.
RNA病毒的突变频率通常接近最大耐受水平，并在受感染宿主中产生复杂的不确定准种群体。这通常有利于极高的进化速率，尽管也可能出现相对静止或平衡的时期，并被快速变化所打断（如同其他生命形式）。由于RNA病毒的复杂准种群体在每个宿主中以概率方式且有所差异地出现，它们在疾病发病机制中的组成和确切作用是不确定的，其进化方向以及“新”病毒爆发的性质和时间都是不可预测的。
