Reproductive Longevity Predicts Mutation Rates in Primates.

ABSTRACT: Mutation rates vary between species across several orders of magnitude, with larger organisms having the highest per-generation mutation rates. Hypotheses for this pattern typically invoke physiological or population-genetic constraints imposed on the molecular machinery preventing mutations [1]. However, continuing germline cell division in multicellular eukaryotes means that organisms with longer generation times and of larger size will leave more mutations to their offspring simply as a byproduct of their increased lifespan [2, 3]. Here, we deeply sequence the genomes of 30 owl monkeys (Aotus nancymaae) from six multi-generation pedigrees to demonstrate that paternal age is the major factor determining the number of de novo mutations in this species. We find that owl monkeys have an ave

SUBMITTER: Thomas GWC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6177314 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature