Mutation pressure and the evolution of organelle genomic architecture

Michael Lynch, Britt Koskella, Sarah Schaack

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

395 Scopus citations

Abstract

The nuclear genomes of multicellular animals and plants contain large amounts of noncoding DNA, the disadvantages of which can be too weak to be effectively countered by selection in lineages with reduced effective population sizes. In contrast, the organelle genomes of these two lineages evolved to opposite ends of the spectrum of genomic complexity, despite similar effective population sizes. This pattern and other puzzling aspects of organelle evolution appear to be consequences of differences in organelle mutation rates. These observations provide support for the hypothesis that the fundamental features of genome evolution are largely defined by the relative power of two nonadaptive forces: random genetic drift and mutation pressure.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1727-1730
Number of pages4
JournalScience
Volume311
Issue number5768
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 24 2006
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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