scholarly journals The causes of mutation accumulation in mitochondrial genomes

2009 ◽  
Vol 276 (1660) ◽  
pp. 1201-1209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurine Neiman ◽  
Douglas R Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Mutation Accumulation ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Mitochondrial Genomes ◽  
Sequence Evolution ◽  
Deleterious Mutations ◽  
Effective Population ◽  
Mitochondrial Mutation ◽  
Evolutionary Forces ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Primary Determinant

A fundamental observation across eukaryotic taxa is that mitochondrial genomes have a higher load of deleterious mutations than nuclear genomes. Identifying the evolutionary forces that drive this difference is important to understanding the rates and patterns of sequence evolution, the efficacy of natural selection, the maintenance of sex and recombination and the mechanisms underlying human ageing and many diseases. Recent studies have implicated the presumed asexuality of mitochondrial genomes as responsible for their high mutational load. We review the current body of knowledge on mitochondrial mutation accumulation and recombination, and conclude that asexuality, per se , may not be the primary determinant of the high mutation load in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Very little recombination is required to counter mutation accumulation, and recent evidence suggests that mitochondrial genomes do experience occasional recombination. Instead, a high rate of accumulation of mildly deleterious mutations in mtDNA may result from the small effective population size associated with effectively haploid inheritance. This type of transmission is nearly ubiquitous among mitochondrial genomes. We also describe an experimental framework using variation in mating system between closely related species to disentangle the root causes of mutation accumulation in mitochondrial genomes.

scholarly journals Island songbirds as windows into evolution in small populations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thibault Leroy ◽  
Marjolaine Rousselle ◽  
Marie-Ka Tilak ◽  
Aude Caizergues ◽  
Celine Scornavacca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Sequence Evolution ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Deleterious Mutations ◽  
Effective Population ◽  
Evolutionary Forces ◽  
Island Species ◽  
Population Sizes

Due to their limited ranges and inherent isolation, island species have long been recognized as crucial systems for tackling a range of evolutionary questions, including in the early study of speciation. Such species have been less studied in the understanding of the evolutionary forces driving DNA sequence evolution. Island species usually have lower census population sizes (N) than continental species and, supposedly, lower effective population sizes (Ne). Given that both the rates of change caused by genetic drift and by selection are dependent upon Ne, island species are theoretically expected to exhibit (i) lower genetic diversity, (ii) less effective natural selection against slightly deleterious mutations, and (iii) a lower rate of adaptive evolution. Here, we have used a large set of newly sequenced and published whole genome sequences of Passerida bird species or subspecies (14 insular and 11 continental) to test these predictions. We empirically confirm that island species exhibit lower census size and Ne, supporting the hypothesis that the smaller area available on islands constrains the upper bound of Ne. In the insular species, we find significantly lower nucleotide diversity in coding regions, higher ratios of non-synonymous to synonymous polymorphisms, and lower adaptive substitution rates. Our results provide robust evidence that the lower Ne experienced by island species has affected both the ability of natural selection to efficiently remove weakly deleterious mutations and also the adaptive potential of island species, therefore providing considerable empirical support for the nearly neutral theory. We discuss the implications for both evolutionary and conservation biology.

scholarly journals On the Rate and Linearity of Viability Declines in Drosophila Mutation-Accumulation Experiments: Genomic Mutation Rates and Synergistic Epistasis Revisited

Genetics ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 166 (2) ◽  
pp. 797-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D Fry
Keyword(s):  
Mutation Rate ◽  
Average Rate ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Mutation Accumulation ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Deleterious Mutations ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Contamination Event ◽  
Genomic Mutation ◽  
The 1960S

Abstract High rates of deleterious mutations could severely reduce the fitness of populations, even endangering their persistence; these effects would be mitigated if mutations synergize each others’ effects. An experiment by Mukai in the 1960s gave evidence that in Drosophila melanogaster, viability-depressing mutations occur at the surprisingly high rate of around one per zygote and that the mutations interact synergistically. A later experiment by Ohnishi seemed to support the high mutation rate, but gave no evidence for synergistic epistasis. Both of these studies, however, were flawed by the lack of suitable controls for assessing viability declines of the mutation-accumulation (MA) lines. By comparing homozygous viability of the MA lines to simultaneously estimated heterozygous viability and using estimates of the dominance of mutations in the experiments, I estimate the viability declines relative to an appropriate control. This approach yields two unexpected conclusions. First, in Ohnishi’s experiment as well as in Mukai’s, MA lines showed faster-than-linear declines in viability, indicative of synergistic epistasis. Second, while Mukai’s estimate of the genomic mutation rate is supported, that from Ohnishi’s experiment is an order of magnitude lower. The different results of the experiments most likely resulted from differences in the starting genotypes; even within Mukai’s experiment, a subset of MA lines, which I argue probably resulted from a contamination event, showed much slower viability declines than did the majority of lines. Because different genotypes may show very different mutational behavior, only studies using many founding genotypes can determine the average rate and distribution of effects of mutations relevant to natural populations.

scholarly journals Harmful mutation load in the mitochondrial genomes of cattle breeds

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sankar Subramanian
Keyword(s):  
Population Size ◽  
Artificial Selection ◽  
Deleterious Mutation ◽  
Genetic Diseases ◽  
Mitochondrial Genomes ◽  
Deleterious Mutations ◽  
Founder Population ◽  
Mutation Load ◽  
Effective Population ◽  
Cattle Breeds

Abstract Objective Domestication of wild animals results in a reduction in the effective population size, and this could affect the deleterious mutation load of domesticated breeds. Furthermore, artificial selection will also contribute to the accumulation of deleterious mutations due to the increased rate of inbreeding among these animals. The process of domestication, founder population size, and artificial selection differ between cattle breeds, which could lead to a variation in their deleterious mutation loads. We investigated this using mitochondrial genome data from 364 animals belonging to 18 cattle breeds of the world. Results Our analysis revealed more than a fivefold difference in the deleterious mutation load among cattle breeds. We also observed a negative correlation between the breed age and the proportion of deleterious amino acid-changing polymorphisms. This suggests a proportionally higher deleterious SNPs in young breeds compared to older breeds. Our results highlight the magnitude of difference in the deleterious mutations present in the mitochondrial genomes of various breeds. The results of this study could be useful in predicting the rate of incidence of genetic diseases in different breeds.

scholarly journals Intra-Species Differences in Population Size shape Life History and Genome Evolution

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Willemsen ◽  
Rongfeng Cui ◽  
Martin Reichard ◽  
Dario Riccardo Valenzano
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Genetic Drift ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Purifying Selection ◽  
Life History Trait ◽  
Deleterious Mutations ◽  
Effective Population ◽  
Annual Life Cycle ◽  
Evolutionary Forces

AbstractThe evolutionary forces shaping life history trait divergence within species are largely unknown. Killifish (oviparous Cyprinodontiformes) evolved an annual life cycle as an exceptional adaptation to life in arid savannah environments characterized by seasonal water availability. The turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri) is the shortest-lived vertebrate known to science and displays differences in lifespan among wild populations, representing an ideal natural experiment in the evolution and diversification of life history. Here, by combining genome sequencing and population genetics, we investigate the evolutionary forces shaping lifespan among turquoise killifish populations. We generate an improved reference assembly for the turquoise killifish genome, trace the evolutionary origin of the sex chromosome, and identify genes under strong positive and purifying selection, as well as those evolving neutrally. We find that the shortest-lived turquoise killifish populations, which dwell in fragmented and isolated habitats at the outer margin of the geographical range of the species, are characterized by small effective population size and accumulate throughout the genome several small to large-effect deleterious mutations due to genetic drift. The genes most affected by drift in the shortest-lived turquoise killifish populations are involved in the WNT signalling pathway, neurodegenerative disorders, cancer and the mTOR pathway. As the populations under stronger genetic drift are the shortest-lived ones, we propose that limited population size due to habitat fragmentation and repeated population bottlenecks, by causing the genome-wide accumulation of deleterious mutations, cumulatively contribute to the short adult lifespan in turquoise killifish populations.

scholarly journals Harmful Mutation Load in the Mitochondrial Genomes of Cattle Breeds 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sankar Subramanian
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Artificial Selection ◽  
Deleterious Mutation ◽  
Mitochondrial Genomes ◽  
Deleterious Mutations ◽  
Founder Population ◽  
Mutation Load ◽  
Effective Population ◽  
Cattle Breeds

Abstract ObjectiveDomestication of wild animals results in a reduction in the effective population size and this could affect the deleterious mutation load of domesticated breeds. Furthermore, artificial selection will also contribute to accumulation deleterious mutations due to the increased rate of inbreeding among these animals. The process of domestication, founder population size, and artificial selection differ between cattle breeds, which could lead to a variation in their deleterious mutation loads. We investigated this using mitochondrial genome data from 252 animals belonging to 15 cattle breeds of the world. ResultsOur analysis revealed more than fivefold difference in the deleterious mutation load among cattle breeds. We also observed a negative correlation between the neutral heterozygosity and the ratio of amino acid changing diversity to silent diversity. This suggests a proportionally higher amino acid changing variants in breeds with low diversity. Our results highlight the magnitude of difference in the deleterious mutations present in the mitochondrial genomes of various breeds. The results of this study could be useful in predicting the rate of incidence of genetic diseases in different breeds.

scholarly journals Disentangling the intertwined roles of mutation, selection and drift in the mitochondrial genome

2019 ◽  
Vol 375 (1790) ◽  
pp. 20190173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Schaack ◽  
Eddie K. H. Ho ◽  
Fenner Macrae
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Genome ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Effective Population ◽  
Mitochondrial Mutation ◽  
Evolutionary Forces ◽  
Rates Of Change ◽  
Mitochondrial Genotype ◽  
Mitochondrial Replication ◽  
Accurate Quantification

Understanding and quantifying the rates of change in the mitochondrial genome is a major component of many areas of biological inquiry, from phylogenetics to human health. A critical parameter in understanding rates of change is estimating the mitochondrial mutation rate (mtDNA MR). Although the first direct estimates of mtDNA MRs were reported almost 20 years ago, the number of estimates has not grown markedly since that time. This is largely owing to the challenges associated with time- and labour-intensive mutation accumulation (MA) experiments. But even MA experiments do not solve a major problem with estimating mtDNA MRs—the challenge of disentangling the role of mutation from other evolutionary forces acting within the cell. Now that it is widely understood that any newly generated mutant allele in the mitochondria will initially be at very low frequency (1/ N , where N is the number of mtDNA molecules in the cell), the importance of understanding the effective population size ( N e ) of the mtDNA and the size of genetic bottlenecks during gametogenesis and development has come into the spotlight. In addition to these factors regulating the role of genetic drift, advances in our understanding of mitochondrial replication and turnover allow us to more easily envision how natural selection within the cell might favour or purge mutations in multi-copy organellar genomes. Here, we review the unique features of the mitochondrial genome that pose a challenge for accurate MR estimation and discuss ways to overcome those challenges. Estimates of mtDNA MRs remain one of the most widely used parameters in biology, thus accurate quantification and a deeper understanding of how and why they may vary within and between individuals, populations and species is an important goal. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Linking the mitochondrial genotype to phenotype: a complex endeavour’.

scholarly journals The inflated mitochondrial genomes of siphonous green algae reflect processes driving expansion of noncoding DNA and proliferation of introns

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e8273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja I. Repetti ◽  
Christopher J. Jackson ◽  
Louise M. Judd ◽  
Ryan R. Wick ◽  
Kathryn E. Holt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Genome ◽  
Gene Arrangement ◽  
Mitochondrial Genomes ◽  
Effective Population ◽  
Noncoding Dna ◽  
Bioinformatic Tools ◽  
Evolutionary Forces ◽  
Green Algal ◽  
Chloroplast Genomes ◽  
Caulerpa Lentillifera

Within the siphonous green algal order Bryopsidales, the size and gene arrangement of chloroplast genomes has been examined extensively, while mitochondrial genomes have been mostly overlooked. The recently published mitochondrial genome of Caulerpa lentillifera is large with expanded noncoding DNA, but it remains unclear if this is characteristic of the entire order. Our study aims to evaluate the evolutionary forces shaping organelle genome dynamics in the Bryopsidales based on the C. lentillifera and Ostreobium quekettii mitochondrial genomes. In this study, the mitochondrial genome of O. quekettii was characterised using a combination of long and short read sequencing, and bioinformatic tools for annotation and sequence analyses. We compared the mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes of O. quekettii and C. lentillifera to examine hypotheses related to genome evolution. The O. quekettii mitochondrial genome is the largest green algal mitochondrial genome sequenced (241,739 bp), considerably larger than its chloroplast genome. As with the mtDNA of C. lentillifera, most of this excess size is from the expansion of intergenic DNA and proliferation of introns. Inflated mitochondrial genomes in the Bryopsidales suggest effective population size, recombination and/or mutation rate, influenced by nuclear-encoded proteins, differ between the genomes of mitochondria and chloroplasts, reducing the strength of selection to influence evolution of their mitochondrial genomes.

scholarly journals Mitochondria, mutations and sex: a new hypothesis for the evolution of sex based on mitochondrial mutational erosion

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Havird ◽  
Matthew D Hall ◽  
Damian Dowling
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Mutation Accumulation ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Metabolic Effects ◽  
Evolution Of Sex ◽  
Mitochondrial Mutation ◽  
Sexual Recombination ◽  
Selection For ◽  
New Hypothesis ◽  
Lines Of Evidence

The evolution of sex in eukaryotes represents a paradox, given the “two-fold” fitness cost it incurs. We hypothesize that the mutational dynamics of the mitochondrial genome would have favoured the evolution of sexual reproduction. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) exhibits a high mutation rate across most eukaryote taxa, and several lines of evidence suggest this high rate is an ancestral character. This seems inexplicable given mtDNA-encoded genes underlie the expression of life's most salient functions, including energy conversion. We propose that negative metabolic effects linked to mitochondrial mutation accumulation would have invoked selection for sexual recombination between divergent host nuclear genomes in early eukaryote lineages. This would provide a mechanism by which recombinant host genotypes could be rapidly shuffled and screened for the presence of compensatory modifiers that offset mtDNA-induced harm. Under this hypothesis, recombination provides the genetic variation necessary for compensatory nuclear coadaptation to keep pace with mitochondrial mutation accumulation.

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