A generation time effect on the rate of molecular evolution in invertebrates

The rate of genome evolution varies significantly between species. Evidence is growing that at least some of this variation is associated with species characteristics, such as body size, diversification rate, or population size. One of the strongest correlates of the rate of molecular evolution in vertebrates is generation time (GT): Species with faster generation turnover tend to have higher rates of molecular evolution, presumably because their genomes are copied more frequently and therefore collect more DNA replication errors per unit time. But the GT effect has never been tested for nonvertebrate animals. Here, we present the first general test of the GT effect in invertebrates, using 15 genes from 143 species spread across the major eumetazoan superphyla (including arthropods, nematodes, molluscs, annelids, platyhelminthes, cnidarians, echinoderms, and urochordates). We find significant evidence that rates of molecular evolution are correlated with GT in invertebrates and that this effect applies consistently across genes and taxonomic groups. Furthermore, the GT effect is evident in nonsynonymous substitutions, whereas theory predicts (and most previous evidence has supported) a relationship only in synonymous changes. We discuss both the practical and theoretical implications of these findings.