Parameterizing Pantherinae: De Novo Mutation Rate Estimates from Panthera and Neofelis Pedigrees.

ABSTRACT: Estimates of de novo mutation rates are essential for phylogenetic and demographic analyses, but their inference has previously been impeded by high error rates in sequence data and uncertainty in the fossil record. Here, we directly estimate de novo germline mutation rates for all extant members of Panthera, as well as the closely related outgroup Neofelis nebulosa, using pedigrees. We use a previously validated pipeline (RatesTools) to calculate mutation rates for each species and subsequently explore the impacts of the novel rates on historic effective population size estimates in each of these charismatic felids of conservation concern. Importantly, we find that the choice of reference genome, the data type and coverage, and the individual all impact estimates of the mutation rate, but

SUBMITTER: Armstrong EE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11997302 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature