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Related Concept Videos

Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

Frequency-dependent Selection

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When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.
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Types of Selection01:46

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Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
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Mutations in Microorganisms01:18

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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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Mismatch Repair01:20

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Organisms are capable of detecting and fixing nucleotide mismatches that occur during DNA replication. This sophisticated process requires identifying the new strand and replacing the erroneous bases with correct nucleotides. Mismatch repair is coordinated by many proteins in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
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Spontaneous mutations arise infrequently during DNA replication due to errors in the process. A key factor behind these errors is tautomeric shifts in nitrogenous bases, where bases transition from keto to enol forms or amino to imino forms. This shift can alter base-pairing rules, leading to mutations. Additionally, reactive oxygen species (ROS) arising from aerobic metabolism can damage DNA, resulting in depurination (loss of a purine base) or depyrimidination (loss of a pyrimidine base).
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Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations
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Selection on mutators is not frequency-dependent.

Yevgeniy Raynes1, Daniel Weinreich1

  • 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Center for Computational Molecular Biology, Brown University, Providence, United States.

Elife
|November 8, 2019
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Mutator mutations, which increase mutation rates, do not depend on their initial frequency for evolutionary success in asexual populations. Their probability of fixation is unchanged, regardless of how common they are initially.

Keywords:
evolutionary biologyindirect selectionmutation ratemutatornone

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Population Dynamics

Background:

  • Mutator mutations increase genome-wide mutation rates.
  • Their evolutionary fate in asexual populations is debated, often thought to be frequency-dependent.
  • Previous research suggested mutators need high initial frequency to hitchhike with beneficial mutations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the frequency-dependent selection of mutator mutations.
  • To determine if initial frequency impacts the evolutionary success of mutators.
  • To analyze the hitchhiking dynamics of mutators with beneficial mutations.

Main Methods:

  • Stochastic, agent-based simulations were employed.
  • The study modeled populations with and without mutator mutations.
  • Selection strength and fixation probabilities were analyzed across varying initial frequencies.

Main Results:

  • Selection on mutators is independent of their initial frequency.
  • The overall probability of hitchhiking with beneficial mutations increases with mutator frequency.
  • The per-capita probability of fixation for mutators remains constant regardless of initial frequency.

Conclusions:

  • The evolutionary dynamics of mutator mutations are not frequency-dependent as previously suggested.
  • Hitchhiking probability scales with frequency, but individual fixation probability does not.
  • Simulation results challenge prior assumptions about mutator invasion strategies.