Determining the factors driving selective effects of new nonsynonymous mutations.

ABSTRACT: The distribution of fitness effects (DFE) of new mutations plays a fundamental role in evolutionary genetics. However, the extent to which the DFE differs across species has yet to be systematically investigated. Furthermore, the biological mechanisms determining the DFE in natural populations remain unclear. Here, we show that theoretical models emphasizing different biological factors at determining the DFE, such as protein stability, back-mutations, species complexity, and mutational robustness make distinct predictions about how the DFE will differ between species. Analyzing amino acid-changing variants from natural populations in a comparative population genomic framework, we find that humans have a higher proportion of strongly deleterious mutations than Drosophila melanogaster.</

SUBMITTER: Huber CD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5410820 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature