Estimation of the spontaneous mutation rate in Heliconius melpomene.
2015
Keightley, Peter D | Pinharanda, Ana | Ness, Rob W | Simpson, Fraser | Dasmahapatra, Kanchon K | Mallet, James | Davey, John W | Jiggins, Chris D
We estimated the spontaneous mutation rate in Heliconius melpomene by genome sequencing of a pair of parents and 30 of their offspring, based on the ratio of number of de novo heterozygotes to the number of callable site-individuals. We detected nine new mutations, each one affecting a single site in a single offspring. This yields an estimated mutation rate of 2.9 × 10(-9) (95% confidence interval, 1.3 × 10(-9)-5.5 × 10(-9)), which is similar to recent estimates in Drosophila melanogaster, the only other insect species in which the mutation rate has been directly estimated. We infer that recent effective population size of H. melpomene is about 2 million, a substantially lower value than its census size, suggesting a role for natural selection reducing diversity. We estimate that H. melpomene diverged from its Müllerian comimic H. erato about 6 Ma, a somewhat later date than estimates based on a local molecular clock.
Show more [+] Less [-]CJ was funded by BBSRC [H01439X/1], JWD was funded by the Herchel Smith Fund and PDK and RWN were funded by the BBSRC.
Show more [+] Less [-]This is the final published version. It first appeared at mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/11/03/molbev.msu302.abstract.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by University of Cambridge