Mutation Rate and Effective Population Size of the Model Cooperative Bacterium Myxococcus xanthus.

ABSTRACT: Intrinsic rates of genetic mutation have diverged greatly across taxa and exhibit statistical associations with several other parameters and features. These include effective population size (Ne), genome size, and gametic multicellularity, with the latter being associated with both increased mutation rates and decreased effective population sizes. However, data sufficient to test for possible relationships between microbial multicellularity and mutation rate (µ) are lacking. Here, we report estimates of two key population-genetic parameters, Ne and µ, for Myxococcus xanthus, a bacterial model organism for the study of aggregative multicellular development, predation, and social swarming. To estimate µ, we conducted an ∼400-day mutation accumulation experiment with 46 lineages subjected to

SUBMITTER: Wielgoss S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11069108 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature