Population size interacts with reproductive longevity to shape the germline mutation rate.

ABSTRACT: Mutation rates vary across the tree of life by many orders of magnitude, with fewer mutations occurring each generation in species that reproduce quickly and maintain large effective population sizes. A compelling explanation is that large effective population sizes facilitate selection against weakly deleterious "mutator alleles" such as variants that modulate cell division or interfere with the molecular efficacy of DNA repair. However, while the fidelity of a single cell division largely determines microorganisms' mutation rates, the relationship of the mutation rate to the molecular determinants of DNA damage and repair is more complex in multicellular species with long generation times. Since long generations leave more time for mutations to accrue each generation, we posit that a lon

SUBMITTER: Zhu L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12130860 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature