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Resurrection of Dormant Daphnia magna: Protocol and Applications
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Lack of support for the time-dependent molecular evolution hypothesis.

Brent C Emerson1, Michael J Hickerson

  • 1Island Ecology and Evolution Research Group, Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología (IPNA-CSIC), C/Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez 3, La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, 38206, Spain.

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Summary

Molecular evolution rates may not decrease over millions of years as hypothesized. Current estimates are often unreliable due to methodological biases and issues with ancient DNA sampling.

Keywords:
Bayesian inferenceancestral polymorphismancient DNAcalibrationcoalescentmutation rate

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Population genetics
  • Molecular evolution

Background:

  • A hypothesis suggests molecular evolution rates are high in contemporary populations and decrease over millions of years.
  • This hypothesis has significant implications for understanding species distribution and genetic variation influenced by climate history.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To critically assess the theoretical support and empirical evidence for time-dependent molecular evolution rates.
  • To identify limitations and biases in current methods for estimating molecular evolution rates, particularly using ancient DNA.

Main Methods:

  • Review of theoretical frameworks supporting time-dependent molecular evolution.
  • Analysis of empirical studies estimating molecular evolution rates.
  • Evaluation of methodologies used for mutation rate estimation from ancient DNA samples.

Main Results:

  • Lack of robust theoretical support and empirical evidence for hypothesized magnitudes of time-dependent molecular evolution rates.
  • Apparent changes in molecular evolution rates are often attributed to methodological artifacts and biases.
  • Serial sampling methods for ancient DNA mutation rate estimation are flawed, leading to unreliable published estimates.

Conclusions:

  • The hypothesis of significantly time-dependent molecular evolution rates lacks strong current support.
  • Methodological improvements are needed for accurate estimation of molecular evolution rates.
  • Re-evaluation of published ancient DNA-based mutation rate estimates is warranted.