The genomic mutation rate for fitness in Drosophila (original) (raw)

Nature volume 359, pages 58–60 (1992)Cite this article

A Correction to this article was published on 22 September 1994

Abstract

THE mutation rate per genome for local affecting fitness is crucial in theories of the evolution of sex and recombination1,2 and of outbreeding mechanisms3. Mutational variation in fitness may also be important in the evolution of mate choice in animals2,4,5. No information is available on the rate at which spontaneous mutations with small effects on fitness arise, although viability (probability of survival to adulthood) has been studied in _Drosophila melanogaster_6–9. These experiments involved the accumulation of spontaneous mutations in the virtual absence of natural selection, in a set of independently maintained lines with a common origin. The rates of decline in mean and increase in variance among lines permit estimation of limits to the mean number of new mutations arising per generation (U) and the average homozygous effect of a new mutation of minor effect (s)7,9,10. For the second chromosome of D. melanogaster, the value of U is at least 0.17 (ref. 7), and (1 – h)s is less than 0.02, where _hs_is the average decline in fitness of heterozygotes. As the second chromosome is about 40% of the genome, these data indicate a mutation rate per haploid genome of at least 0.42 for viability. Here we present similar data on the effects of homozygous spontaneous mutations on a measure of fitness in D. melanogaster.

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Author notes

  1. D. Houle
    Present address: Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, 97403, USA
  2. D. K. Hoffmaster
    Present address: Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, 1101 East 57th Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60637-1573, USA
    D. Houle, D. K. Hoffmaster, S. Assimacopoulos & B. Charlesworth

Authors

  1. D. Houle
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  2. D. K. Hoffmaster
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  3. S. Assimacopoulos
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  4. B. Charlesworth
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Houle, D., Hoffmaster, D., Assimacopoulos, S. et al. The genomic mutation rate for fitness in Drosophila.Nature 359, 58–60 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/359058a0

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