Elevated mutation rates are unlikely to evolve in sexual species, not even under rapid environmental change.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Organisms are expected to respond to changing environmental conditions through local adaptation, range shift or local extinction. The process of local adaptation can occur by genetic changes or phenotypic plasticity, and becomes especially relevant when dispersal abilities or possibilities are somehow constrained. For genetic changes to occur, mutations are the ultimate source of variation and the mutation rate in terms of a mutator locus can be subject to evolutionary change. Recent findings suggest that the evolution of the mutation rate in a sexual species can advance invasion speed and promote adaptation to novel environmental conditions. Following this idea, this work uses an individual-based model approach to investigate if the mutation rate can also evolve in a se

SUBMITTER: Romero-Mujalli D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6714099 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature