- THIS ARTICLE
- Full Text
- Full Text (PDF)
-
All Versions of this Article:
genetics.107.073791v1
177/2/971 most recent - Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- SERVICES
- Email this article to a friend
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Alert me to new issues of the journal
- Download to citation manager
- Reprints & Permissions
- CITING ARTICLES
- Citing Articles via HighWire
- Citing Articles via Google Scholar
- GOOGLE SCHOLAR
- Articles by Söderberg, R. J.
- Articles by Berg, O. G.
- Search for Related Content
- PUBMED
- PubMed Citation
- Articles by Söderberg, R. J.
- Articles by Berg, O. G.
Originally published as Genetics Published Articles Ahead of Print on August 24, 2007.
Genetics, Vol. 177, 971-986, October 2007, Copyright © 2007
doi:10.1534/genetics.107.073791
Mutational Interference and the Progression of Muller's Ratchet When Mutations Have a Broad Range of Deleterious Effects
R. Jonas Söderberg and Otto G. Berg1
Department of Molecular Evolution, The Evolutionary Biology Centre, University of Uppsala, SE-75236 Uppsala, Sweden
1 Corresponding author: Department of Molecular Evolution, EBC, Norbyvagen 18C, SE-75236 Uppsala, Sweden.
E-mail: otto.berg{at}ebc.uu.se
Deleterious mutations can accumulate in asexual haploid genomes through the process known as Muller's ratchet. This process has been described in the literature mostly for the case where all mutations are assumed to have the same effect on fitness. In the more realistic situation, deleterious mutations will affect fitness with a wide range of effects, from almost neutral to lethal. To elucidate the behavior of the ratchet in this more realistic case, simulations were carried out in a number of models, one where all mutations have the same effect on selection [one-dimensional (1D) model], one where the deleterious mutations can be divided into two groups with different selective effects [two-dimensional (2D) model], and finally one where the deleterious effects are distributed. The behavior of these models suggests that deleterious mutations can be classified into three different categories, such that the behavior of each can be described in a straightforward way. This makes it possible to predict the ratchet rate for an arbitrary distribution of fitness effects using the results for the well-studied 1D model with a single selection coefficient. The description was tested and shown to work well in simulations where selection coefficients are derived from an exponential distribution.
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  E. S. Dolgin and B. Charlesworth The Effects of Recombination Rate on the Distribution and Abundance of Transposable Elements Genetics, April 1, 2008; 178(4): 2169 - 2177. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|