Abstract
A theoretical analysis was carried out on the mutation load observed in long-maintained inbred lines from two experiments with Drosophila and mice. The rate of decline in fitness and its sampling distribution were predicted for both experiments using Monte Carlo simulation with a range of mutational parameters and models. The predicted rates of change in fitness were compared to the empirical observed rates, which were close to zero. The classical hypothesis of many deleterious mutations (about one event per genome per generation) of small effect (1–2%) resulting in a mutation pressure for fitness of about 1% per generation is incompatible with the data. Recent estimates suggesting an overall mutation pressure for fitness traits of about 0.1% are, however, compatible with the observed load.
Key words
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Barton, N.H. & M. Turelli, 1989. Evolutionary Quantitative Genetics: How little do we know?. Ann. Rev. Genet. 23: 337–370.
Caballero, A. & P.D. Keightley, 1994. A pleiotropic nonadditive model of variation in quantitative traits. Genetics 138: 883–900.
Caballero, A., P.D. Keightley & W.G. Hill, 1991. Strategies for increasing fixation probabilities of recessive mutations. Genet. Res. 58: 129–138.
Caballero, A., P.D. Keightley & W.G. Hill, 1995. Accumulation of mutations affecting body weight in inbred mouse lines. Genet. Res. 65: 145–149.
Caballero, A. & E. Santiago, 1995. Response to selection from new mutation and effective size of partially inbred populations. I. Theoretical Results. Genet. Res. 66: 213–225.
Charlesworth, B., 1990. Mutation-selection balance and the evolutionary advantage of sex and recombination. Genet. Res. 55: 199–221.
Charlesworth, B., M.T. Morgan & D. Charlesworth, 1993. Mutation accumulation in finite outbreeding and inbreeding populations. Genet. Res. 61: 39–56.
Charlesworth, B., D. Charlesworth & M.T. Morgan, 1990. Genet ic loads and estimates of mutation rates in highly inbred plant populations. Nature 347: 380–382.
Charlesworth, D., E.E. Lyons & L.B. Litchfield, 1994. Inbreeding depression in two highly inbreeding populations of Leavenworthia. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 258: 209–214.
Charlesworth, B. & K.A. Hughes, 1998. The maintenance of genetic variation in life history traits. In Evolutionary Genetics From Molecules to Morphology, edited by R.S. Singh & C.B. Krimbas. Cambridge University Press. (In press).
Crow, J.F., 1993. Mutation, mean fitness and genetic load. Oxford Surv. Evol. Biol. 9: 3–42.
Crow, J.F. & M. Kimura, 1970. An Introduction to Population Genetics Theory. Harper & Row, N.Y, USA.
Deng, H.-W. & M. Lynch, 1996. Estimation of deleterious-mutation parameters in natural populations. Genetics 144: 349–360.
Fernández, J. & C. López-Fanjul, 1996. Spontaneous mutational variances and covariances for fitness-related traits in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 143: 829–837.
Fernández, J. & C. López-Fanjul, 1997. Spontaneous mutational genotype-environmental interaction for fitness-related traits in Drosophila melanogaster. Evolution 51: 856–864.
García, N., C. López-Fanjul & A. García-Dorado, 1994. The genetics of viability in Drosophila melanogaster. effects of inbreeding and artificial selection. Evolution 48: 1277–1285.
García-Dorado, A., 1997. The rate and effects distribution of viability mutation in Drosophila: minimum distance estimation. evolution 51: 1130–1139.
Johnston, M.O. & D.J. Schoen, 1995. Mutation rates and dominance levels of genes affecting total fitness in two angiosperm species. Science 267: 226–229.
Keightley, P.D., 1994. The distribution of mutation effects on viability in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 138: 1315–1322.
Keightley, P.D., 1996. Nature of deleterious mutation load in Drosophila. Genetics 144: 1993–1999.
Keightley, P.D. & A. Caballero, 1997. Genomic mutation rates for lifetime reproductive output and life span in Caenorhabditis elegans. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 94: 3823–3827.
Keightley, P.D. & W.G. Hill, 1992. Quantitative genetic variation in body size of mice from new mutation. Genetics 131: 693–700.
Kibota, T.T. & M. Lynch, 1996. Estimate of the genomic mutation rate deleterious to overall fitness in E. coli. Nature 381: 694–696.
Kimura, M., 1962. On the probability of fixation of mutant genes in a population. Genetics 47: 713–719.
Kondrashov, A.S., 1988. Deleterious mutations and the evolution of sexual reproduction. Nature 336: 435–440.
Kondrashov, A.S., 1995. Contamination of the genome by very slightly deleterious mutations: why have we not died 100 times over?. J. Theor. Biol. 175: 583–594.
Kondrashov, A.S. & D. Houle, 1994. Genotype-environment interac tions and the estimation of the genomic mutation rate in Drosophila melanogaster. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 258: 221–227.
Lande, R., 1994. Risk of population extinction from fixation of new deleterious mutations. Evolution 48: 1460–1469.
Lande, R., 1995. Mutation and conservation. Conservation Biology 9: 782–791.
López-Fanjul, C. & A. Villaverde, 1989. Inbreeding increases genet ic variance for viability in Drosophila melanogaster. Evolution 43: 1800–1804.
Lynch, M., J. Conery & R. Burger, 1995. Mutation accumulation and extinction of small populations. Am. Nat. 146: 489–518.
Mackay, T.F.C., 1985. A quantitative genetic analysis of fitness and its componenets in Drosophila melanogaster. Genet. Res. 47: 59–70.
Merchante, M., A. Caballero & C. López-Fanjul, 1995. Response to selection from new mutation and effective size of partially inbred populations. II. Experiments with Drosophila melanogaster. Genet. Res. 66: 227–240.
Mukai, T., 1964. The genetic structure of natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster. I. Spontaneous mutation rate of polygenes controlling viability. Genetics 50: 1–19.
Mukai, T., 1969. The genetic structure of natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster. VII. Synergistic interaction of sponta neous mutant polygenes controlling viability. Genetics 61: 749–761.
Mukai, T., S.I. Chigusa, L.E. Mettler & J.F. Crow, 1972. Mutation rate and dominance of genes affecting viability in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 72: 333–355.
Ohnishi, O., 1977. Spontaneous and ethyl methanesulfonate-induced mutations controlling viability in Drosophila melanogaster. II. Homozygous effect of polygenic mutations. Genetics 87: 529–545.
Peck, J.R. & A. Eyre-Walker, 1997. The muddle about mutations. Nature 387: 135–136.
Sved, J.A., 1975. Fitness of third chromosome homozygotes in Drosophila melanogaster. Genet. Res. 25: 197–200.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Caballero, A., Keightley, P.D. (1998). Inferences on genome-wide deleterious mutation rates in inbred populations of Drosophila and mice. In: Woodruff, R.C., Thompson, J.N. (eds) Mutation and Evolution. Contemporary Issues in Genetics and Evolution, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5210-5_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5210-5_19
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6193-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-5210-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive