Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 311, Issue 5763, Pages 990-992Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1118152
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- NIGMS NIH HHS [GM36827, R01 GM036827] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Theory predicts that linkage between genetic loci reduces the efficiency of purifying selection. Because of the permanent linkage of all heritable genetic material, asexual lineages may be exceptionally prone to deleterious-mutation accumulation in both nuclear and organelle genes. Here, we show that the ratio of the rate of amino acid to silent substitution (K-a/K-s) in mitochondrial protein-coding genes is higher in obligately asexual lineages than in sexual lineages of the microcrustacean Daphnia pulex. Using a phylogeny-based approach to quantify the frequency of mutational-effect classes, we estimate that mitochondrial protein-coding genes in asexual lineages accumulate deleterious amino acid substitutions at four times the rate in sexual lineages. These results support the hypothesis that sexual reproduction plays a prominent role in reducing the mutational burden in populations.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available