Work

The effect of spontaneous mutations on competitive ability

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: Understanding the impact of spontaneous mutations on fitness has many theoretical and practical applications in biology. Although mutational effects on individual morphological or life-history characters have been measured in several classic genetic model systems, there are few estimates of the rate of decline due to mutation for complex fitness traits. Here, we estimate the effects of mutation on competitive ability, an important complex fitness trait, in a model system for ecological and evolutionary genomics, Daphnia. Competition assays were performed to compare fitness between mutation-accumulation (MA) lines and control lines from eight different genotypes from two populations of Daphnia pulicaria after 30 and 65 generations of mutation accumulation. Our results show a fitness decline among MA lines relative to controls as expected, but highlight the influence of genomic background on this effect. In addition, in some assays, MA lines outperform controls providing insight into the frequency of beneficial mutations.

Source: Journal of Evolutionary Biology

DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12058

Authors: S. Schaack, D. E. Allen, L. C. Latta, K. K. Morgan, M. Lynch

Institutions: Reed College, The University of Western Australia, Duke University, Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University

Language: English

Topic: Evolution and Genetic Dynamics

Subfield: Genetics

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Awards: Graduate Training in Genetics, The Rate and Molecular Spectrum of Spontaneous Mutations