Extensive de novo mutation rate variation between individuals and across the genome of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

ABSTRACT: Describing the process of spontaneous mutation is fundamental for understanding the genetic basis of disease, the threat posed by declining population size in conservation biology, and much of evolutionary biology. Directly studying spontaneous mutation has been difficult, however, because new mutations are rare. Mutation accumulation (MA) experiments overcome this by allowing mutations to build up over many generations in the near absence of natural selection. Here, we sequenced the genomes of 85 MA lines derived from six genetically diverse strains of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We identified 6843 new mutations, more than any other study of spontaneous mutation. We observed sevenfold variation in the mutation rate among strains and that mutator genotypes arose, increasing t

SUBMITTER: Ness RW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4617969 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature