Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Characterizing Mutational Load and Clonal Composition of Human Blood
Published on: July 11, 2019
Clonal interference is alleviated by high mutation rates in large populations
Jonathan P Bollback1, John P Huelsenbeck
1Institute of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. bollback@binf.ku.dk
In asexual populations, clonal interference slows evolution. However, very high mutation rates (Nmu) can overcome this by rapidly creating beneficial mutations, reducing the need for recombination and ameliorating the cost of asexuality.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Population genetics
- Microbial evolution
Background:
- Asexual populations face clonal interference, where linked genetic backgrounds compete, slowing evolution.
- Factors like large population size (N) and high mutation rates (mu) typically intensify clonal interference.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of very large population-mutation rate products (Nmu) on clonal interference in asexual populations.
- To determine if recurrent mutation can mitigate the evolutionary cost of asexuality.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of experimental evolution data from asexual bacteriophage populations.
- Focus on nonrecombining populations with very large Nmu values.
Main Results:
- Observed that recurrent mutation rapidly generates genomes with multiple beneficial mutations in large Nmu populations.
- Found that this ameliorates the negative effects of clonal interference, reducing the cost of asexuality.
Conclusions:
- Recurrent mutation plays a key role in overcoming clonal interference in asexual populations with very large Nmu.
- This mechanism reduces the evolutionary disadvantage of asexuality compared to sexual reproduction.
More Related Videos
10:07A Standard Methodology to Examine On-site Mutagenicity As a Function of Point Mutation Repair Catalyzed by CRISPR/Cas9 and SsODN in Human Cells
Published on: August 25, 2017
18:10Isolation of Fidelity Variants of RNA Viruses and Characterization of Virus Mutation Frequency
Published on: June 16, 2011
Related Concept Videos
Mismatch Repair
The Mutator Protein Family Plays a Key Role in DNA Mismatch Repair
The human genome has more than 3 billion base pairs of DNA per cell. Prior to cell division, that vast amount of genetic...
Mismatch Repair
Genome Copying Errors
Mutations in Microorganisms
Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift
Conservative Site-specific Recombination and Phase Variation
The recognition sites for Cre recombinase called LoxP...