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Related Concept Videos

Mutations01:39

Mutations

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Overview
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Mutations01:35

Mutations

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Mutations are changes in the sequence of DNA. These changes can occur spontaneously or they can be induced by exposure to environmental factors. Mutations can be characterized in a number of different ways: whether and how they alter the amino acid sequence of the protein, whether they occur over a small or large area of DNA, and whether they occur in somatic cells or germline cells.
Chromosomal Alterations Are Large-Scale Mutations
While point mutations are changes in a single nucleotide in...
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Viral Mutations00:36

Viral Mutations

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A mutation is a change in the sequence of bases of DNA or RNA in a genome. Some mutations occur during replication of the genome due to errors made by the polymerase enzymes that replicate DNA or RNA. Unlike DNA polymerase, RNA polymerase is prone to errors because it is not capable of “proofreading” its work. Viruses with RNA-based genomes, like HIV, therefore accrue mutations faster than viruses with DNA-based genomes. Because mutation and recombination provide the raw material...
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Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift01:09

Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift

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In a population that is not at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of alleles changes over time. Therefore, any deviations from the five conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium can alter the genetic variation of a given population. Conditions that change the genetic variability of a population include mutations, natural selection, non-random mating, gene flow, and genetic drift (small population size).
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Mutations in Microorganisms01:18

Mutations in Microorganisms

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Mutations are heritable changes in an organism’s genome involving alterations in the base sequence of DNA or RNA. These changes can influence cellular processes and phenotypic traits, potentially transforming the unaltered wild type into a mutant form. Such changes, termed forward mutations, are pivotal in shaping the genetic diversity of organisms.RNA viruses exhibit the highest mutation rates due to the absence of robust proofreading mechanisms during genome replication. In contrast,...
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Point and Frameshift Mutations01:30

Point and Frameshift Mutations

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Point mutations are genetic alterations involving the change of a single nucleotide base pair in DNA. Depending on how the alteration affects protein synthesis, they can lead to various consequences.Point mutations fall into the following types:Silent mutations occur when a nucleotide change does not alter the amino acid sequence due to the redundancy of the genetic code. For instance, changing ACC to ACA still encodes threonine, leaving the protein function unaffected. This occurs because...
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Measuring Microbial Mutation Rates with the Fluctuation Assay
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Measuring Microbial Mutation Rates with the Fluctuation Assay

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[Why the mutation rate never reaches zero?]

Didier Casane1, Maxime Policarpo1, Patrick Laurenti2

  • 1Laboratoire Évolution, Génomes, Comportement, Écologie, UMR9191, CNRS, IRD, Univ Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France - Université Paris-Diderot, UFR des sciences du vivant, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France.

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Summary

The mutation rate remains above zero due to a balance between natural selection for replication fidelity and random genetic drift, highlighting selection

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Population Genetics

Background:

  • Deleterious mutations suggest natural selection should eliminate them, driving mutation rates to zero.
  • Antimutator genotypes, which reduce mutation rates, are favored by natural selection.
  • However, no species exhibits a zero mutation rate, posing an evolutionary paradox.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the factors maintaining a non-zero mutation rate in biological populations.
  • To explore the interplay between natural selection and genetic drift in mutation rate evolution.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of theoretical models on mutation rate evolution.
  • Examination of the influence of effective genome size and effective population size.
  • Investigating the trade-off between replication fidelity and random genetic drift.

Main Results:

  • The mutation rate is primarily determined by effective genome size and effective population size.
  • A fundamental trade-off exists between natural selection favoring lower mutation rates and random genetic drift.
  • Random genetic drift imposes a lower limit on the mutation rate, preventing it from reaching zero.

Conclusions:

  • The persistence of a non-zero mutation rate is an evolutionary consequence of finite population sizes.
  • Natural selection's power to reduce mutation rates is constrained by random genetic drift.
  • This trade-off demonstrates the limitations of natural selection in finite populations.