Developmental Selection and the Perception of Mutation Bias.

ABSTRACT: The notion that mutations are random relative to their fitness effects is central to the Neo-Darwinian view of evolution. However, a recent interpretation of the patterns of mutation accumulation in the genome of Arabidopsis thaliana has challenged this notion, arguing for the presence of a targeted DNA repair mechanism that causes a nonrandom association of mutation rates and fitness effects. Specifically, this mechanism was suggested to cause a reduction in the rates of mutations on essential genes, thus lowering the rates of deleterious mutations. Central to this argument were attempts to rule out selection at the population level. Here, we offer an alternative and parsimonious interpretation of the patterns of mutation accumulation previously attributed to mutation bias, showing how th

SUBMITTER: Majic P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10443735 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature