Causes of variability in estimates of mutational variance from mutation accumulation experiments.

ABSTRACT: Characteristics of the new phenotypic variation introduced via mutation have broad implications in evolutionary and medical genetics. Standardized estimates of this mutational variance, VM, span 2 orders of magnitude, but the causes of this remain poorly resolved. We investigated estimate heterogeneity using 2 approaches. First, meta-analyses of ∼150 estimates of standardized VM from 37 mutation accumulation studies did not support a difference among taxa (which differ in mutation rate) but provided equivocal support for differences among trait types (life history vs morphology, predicted to differ in mutation rate). Notably, several experimental factors were confounded with taxon and trait, and further empirical data are required to resolve their influences. Second, we analyzed morphologi

SUBMITTER: Conradsen C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9157167 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature