Sex-specific viability effects of mutations in Drosophila melanogaster.

In populations with separate sexes, genetic load due to deleterious mutations may be expressed differently in males and females. Evidence from insect models suggests that selection against mutations is stronger in males. This pattern will reduce deleterious allele frequencies at the expense of males, such that female mean fitness is greater than expected, preserving population persistence in the face of high mutation rates. While previous studies focus on reproductive success, mutation load depends on total selection in each sex, including selection for viability. We might expect minimal sex differences in viability effects in fruit flies, since male and female larvae behave similarly, yet many genes show sex-biased expression in larvae. We measured the sex-specific viability effects of nine "marker" mutations and 123 mutagenized chromosomes. We find that both types of mutations generally reduce viability in both sexes. Among marker mutations we detect instances of sex biased effects in each direction; mutagenized chromosomes show little sex-specific mutational variance, but recessive lethals show a female bias, including in FlyBase records. We conclude that mutations regularly affect viability in a sex-specific manner, but that the strong pattern of male-biased mutational effects observed previously for reproductive success is not apparent at the pre-reproductive stage.

Mutations in yeast are deleterious on average regardless of the degree of adaptation to the testing environment.

The role of spontaneous mutations in evolution depends on the distribution of their effects on fitness. Despite a general consensus that new mutations are deleterious on average, a handful of mutation accumulation experiments in diverse organisms instead suggest that beneficial and deleterious mutations can have comparable fitness impacts, i.e. the product of their respective rates and effects can be roughly equal. We currently lack a general framework for predicting when such a pattern will occur. One idea is that beneficial mutations will be more evident in genotypes that are not well adapted to the testing environment. We tested this prediction experimentally in the laboratory yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae by allowing nine replicate populations to adapt to novel environments with complex sets of stressors. After >1000 asexual generations interspersed with 41 rounds of sexual reproduction, we assessed the mean effect of induced mutations on yeast growth in both the environment to which they had been adapting and the alternative novel environment. The mutations were deleterious on average, with the severity depending on the testing environment. However, we found no evidence that the adaptive match between genotype and environment is predictive of mutational fitness effects.

Contribution of Spontaneous Mutations to Quantitative and Molecular Variation at the Highly Repetitive rDNA Locus in Yeast.

The ribosomal DNA array in Saccharomyces cerevisiae consists of many tandem repeats whose copy number is believed to be functionally important but highly labile. Regulatory mechanisms have evolved to maintain copy number by directed mutation, but how spontaneous variation at this locus is generated and selected has not been well characterized. We applied a mutation accumulation approach to quantify the impacts of mutation and selection on this unique genomic feature across hundreds of mutant strains. We find that mutational variance for this trait is relatively high, and that unselected mutations elsewhere in the genome can disrupt copy number maintenance. In consequence, copy number generally declines gradually, consistent with a previously proposed model of rDNA maintenance where a downward mutational bias is normally compensated by mechanisms that increase copy number when it is low. This pattern holds across ploidy levels and strains in the standard lab environment but differs under some stressful conditions. We identify several alleles, gene categories, and genomic features that likely affect copy number, including aneuploidy for chromosome XII. Copy number change is associated with reduced growth in diploids, consistent with stabilizing selection. Levels of standing variation in copy number are well predicted by a balance between mutation and stabilizing selection, suggesting this trait is not subject to strong diversifying selection in the wild. The rate and spectrum of point mutations within the rDNA locus itself are distinct from the rest of the genome and predictive of polymorphism locations. Our findings help differentiate the roles of mutation and selection and indicate that spontaneous mutation patterns shape several aspects of ribosomal DNA evolution.

Are mutations usually deleterious? A perspective on the fitness effects of mutation accumulation.

All adaptive alleles in existence today began as mutations, but a common view in ecology, evolution, and genetics is that non-neutral mutations are much more likely to be deleterious than beneficial and will be removed by purifying selection. By dramatically limiting the effectiveness of selection in experimental mutation accumulation lines, multiple studies have shown that new mutations cause a detectable reduction in mean fitness. However, a number of exceptions to this pattern have now been observed in multiple species, including in highly replicated, intensive analyses. We briefly review these cases and discuss possible explanations for the inconsistent fitness outcomes of mutation accumulation experiments. We propose that variation in the outcomes of these studies is of interest and understanding the underlying causes of these diverse results will help shed light on fundamental questions about the evolutionary role of mutations.

Recent insights into the evolution of mutation rates in yeast.

Mutation is the origin of all genetic variation, good and bad. The mutation process can evolve in response to mutations, positive or negative selection, and genetic drift, but how these forces contribute to mutation-rate variation is an unsolved problem at the heart of genetics research. Mutations can be challenging to measure, but genome sequencing and other tools have allowed for the collection of larger and more detailed datasets, particularly in the yeast-model system. We review key hypotheses for the evolution of mutation rates and describe recent advances in understanding variation in mutational properties within and among yeast species. The multidimensional spectrum of mutations is increasingly recognized as holding valuable clues about how this important process evolves.

Fitness Effects of Mutations: An Assessment of PROVEAN Predictions Using Mutation Accumulation Data.

Predicting fitness in natural populations is a major challenge in biology. It may be possible to leverage fast-accumulating genomic data sets to infer the fitness effects of mutant alleles, allowing evolutionary questions to be addressed in any organism. In this paper, we investigate the utility of one such tool, called PROVEAN. This program compares a query sequence with existing data to provide an alignment-based score for any protein variant, with scores categorized as neutral or deleterious based on a pre-set threshold. PROVEAN has been used widely in evolutionary studies, for example, to estimate mutation load in natural populations, but has not been formally tested as a predictor of aggregate mutational effects on fitness. Using three large published data sets on the genome sequences of laboratory mutation accumulation lines, we assessed how well PROVEAN predicted the actual fitness patterns observed, relative to other metrics. In most cases, we find that a simple count of the total number of mutant proteins is a better predictor of fitness than the number of proteins with variants scored as deleterious by PROVEAN. We also find that the sum of all mutant protein scores explains variation in fitness better than the number of mutant proteins in one of the data sets. We discuss the implications of these results for studies of populations in the wild.

The population genetics of ploidy change in unicellular fungi.

Changes in ploidy are a significant type of genetic variation, describing the number of chromosome sets per cell. Ploidy evolves in natural populations, clinical populations, and lab experiments, particularly in unicellular fungi. Predicting how ploidy will evolve has proven difficult, despite a long history of theoretical work on this topic, as it is often unclear why one ploidy state outperforms another. Here, we review what is known about contemporary ploidy evolution in diverse fungal species through the lens of population genetics. As with typical genetic variants, ploidy evolution depends on the rate that new ploidy states arise by mutation, natural selection on alternative ploidy states, and random genetic drift. However, ploidy variation also has unique impacts on evolution, with the potential to alter chromosomal stability, the rate and patterns of point mutation, and the nature of selection on all loci in the genome. We discuss how ploidy evolution depends on these general and unique factors and highlight areas where additional experimental evidence is required to comprehensively explain the ploidy transitions observed in the field, the clinic, and the lab.

No evidence of positive assortative mating for genetic quality in fruit flies.

In sexual populations, the effectiveness of selection will depend on how gametes combine with respect to genetic quality. If gametes with deleterious alleles are likely to combine with one another, deleterious genetic variation can be more easily purged by selection. Assortative mating, where there is a positive correlation between parents in a phenotype of interest such as body size, is often observed in nature, but does not necessarily reveal how gametes ultimately combine with respect to genetic quality itself. We manipulated genetic quality in fruit fly populations using an inbreeding scheme designed to provide an unbiased measure of mating patterns. While inbred flies had substantially reduced reproductive success, their gametes did not combine with those of other inbred flies more often than expected by chance, indicating a lack of positive assortative mating. Instead, we detected a negative correlation in genetic quality between parents, i.e. disassortative mating, which diminished with age. This pattern is expected to reduce the genetic variance for fitness, diminishing the effectiveness of selection. We discuss how mechanisms of sexual selection could produce a pattern of disassortative mating. Our study highlights that sexual selection has the potential to either increase or decrease genetic load.

An experimental test of the mutation-selection balance model for the maintenance of genetic variance in fitness components.

Despite decades of research, the factors that maintain genetic variation for fitness are poorly understood. It is unclear what fraction of the variance in a typical fitness component can be explained by mutation-selection balance (MSB) and whether fitness components differ in this respect. In theory, the level of standing variance in fitness due to MSB can be predicted using the rate of fitness decline under mutation accumulation, and this prediction can be directly compared to the standing variance observed. This approach allows for controlled statistical tests of the sufficiency of the MSB model, and could be used to identify traits or populations where genetic variance is maintained by other factors. For example, some traits may be influenced by sexually antagonistic balancing selection, resulting in an excess of standing variance beyond that generated by deleterious mutations. We describe the underlying theory and use it to test the MSB model for three traits in Drosophila melanogaster We find evidence for differences among traits, with MSB being sufficient to explain genetic variance in larval viability but not male mating success or female fecundity. Our results are consistent with balancing selection on sexual fitness components, and demonstrate the feasibility of rigorous statistical tests of the MSB model.

The genome-wide rate and spectrum of spontaneous mutations differ between haploid and diploid yeast.

By altering the dynamics of DNA replication and repair, alternative ploidy states may experience different rates and types of new mutations, leading to divergent evolutionary outcomes. We report a direct comparison of the genome-wide spectrum of spontaneous mutations arising in haploids and diploids following a mutation-accumulation experiment in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae Characterizing the number, types, locations, and effects of thousands of mutations revealed that haploids were more prone to single-nucleotide mutations (SNMs) and mitochondrial mutations, while larger structural changes were more common in diploids. Mutations were more likely to be detrimental in diploids, even after accounting for the large impact of structural changes, contrary to the prediction that mutations would have weaker effects, due to masking, in diploids. Haploidy is expected to reduce the opportunity for conservative DNA repair involving homologous chromosomes, increasing the insertion-deletion rate, but we found little support for this idea. Instead, haploids were more susceptible to SNMs in late-replicating genomic regions, resulting in a ploidy difference in the spectrum of substitutions. In diploids, we detect mutation rate variation among chromosomes in association with centromere location, a finding that is supported by published polymorphism data. Diploids are not simply doubled haploids; instead, our results predict that the spectrum of spontaneous mutations will substantially shape the dynamics of genome evolution in haploid and diploid populations.

Evolution: Zeroing In on the Rate of Genome Doubling.

Changes in genome copy number have occurred numerous times throughout the history of life, with profound evolutionary consequences. New experiments with budding yeast shed light on how frequently spontaneous genome doubling occurs within populations and the environmental conditions that favour cells with doubled genomes.

Local Adaptation Interacts with Expansion Load during Range Expansion: Maladaptation Reduces Expansion Load.

The biotic and abiotic factors that facilitate or hinder species range expansions are many and complex. We examine the impact of two genetic processes and their interaction on fitness at expanding range edges: local maladaptation resulting from the presence of an environmental gradient and expansion load resulting from increased genetic drift at the range edge. Results from spatially explicit simulations indicate that the presence of an environmental gradient during range expansion reduces expansion load; conversely, increasing expansion load allows only locally adapted populations to persist at the range edge. Increased maladaptation reduces the speed of range expansion, resulting in less genetic drift at the expanding front and more immigration from the range center, therefore reducing expansion load at the range edge. These results may have ramifications for species being forced to shift their ranges because of climate change or other anthropogenic changes. If rapidly changing climate leads to faster expansion as populations track their shifting climatic optima, populations may suffer increased expansion load beyond previous expectations.

Evolution of sex: Using experimental genomics to select among competing theories.

Few topics have intrigued biologists as much as the evolution of sex. Understanding why sex persists despite its costs requires not just rigorous theoretical study, but also empirical data on related fundamental issues, including the nature of genetic variance for fitness, patterns of genetic interactions, and the dynamics of adaptation. The increasing feasibility of examining genomes in an experimental context is now shedding new light on these problems. Using this approach, McDonald et al. recently demonstrated that sex uncouples beneficial and deleterious mutations, allowing selection to proceed more effectively with sex than without. Here we discuss the insights provided by this study, along with other recent empirical work, in the context of the major theoretical models for the evolution of sex.

Low Genetic Quality Alters Key Dimensions of the Mutational Spectrum.

Mutations affect individual health, population persistence, adaptation, diversification, and genome evolution. There is evidence that the mutation rate varies among genotypes, but the causes of this variation are poorly understood. Here, we link differences in genetic quality with variation in spontaneous mutation in a Drosophila mutation accumulation experiment. We find that chromosomes maintained in low-quality genetic backgrounds experience a higher rate of indel mutation and a lower rate of gene conversion in a manner consistent with condition-based differences in the mechanisms used to repair DNA double strand breaks. These aspects of the mutational spectrum were also associated with body mass, suggesting that the effect of genetic quality on DNA repair was mediated by overall condition, and providing a mechanistic explanation for the differences in mutational fitness decline among these genotypes. The rate and spectrum of substitutions was unaffected by genetic quality, but we find variation in the probability of substitutions and indels with respect to several aspects of local sequence context, particularly GC content, with implications for models of molecular evolution and genome scans for signs of selection. Our finding that the chances of mutation depend on genetic context and overall condition has important implications for how sequences evolve, the risk of extinction, and human health.

Sexual antagonism for resistance and tolerance to infection in Drosophila melanogaster.

A critical task in evolutionary genetics is to explain the persistence of heritable variation in fitness-related traits such as immunity. Ecological factors can maintain genetic variation in immunity, but less is known about the role of other factors, such as antagonistic pleiotropy, on immunity. Sexually dimorphic immunity-with females often being more immune-competent-may maintain variation in immunity in dioecious populations. Most eco-immunological studies assess host resistance to parasites rather than the host's ability to maintain fitness during infection (tolerance). Distinguishing between resistance and tolerance is important as they are thought to have markedly different evolutionary and epidemiological outcomes. Few studies have investigated tolerance in animals, and the extent of sexual dimorphism in tolerance is unknown. Using males and females from 50 Drosophila melanogaster genotypes, we investigated possible sources of genetic variation for immunity by assessing both resistance and tolerance to the common bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We found evidence of sexual dimorphism and sexual antagonism for resistance and tolerance, and a trade-off between the two traits. Our findings suggest that antagonistic pleiotropy may be a major contributor to variation in immunity, with implications for host-parasite coevolution.

Sensitivity of the distribution of mutational fitness effects to environment, genetic background, and adaptedness: a case study with Drosophila.

Heterogeneity in the fitness effects of individual mutations has been found across different environmental and genetic contexts. Going beyond effects on individual mutations, how is the distribution of selective effects, f(s), altered by changes in genetic and environmental context? In this study, we examined changes in the major features of f(s) by estimating viability selection on 36 individual mutations in Drosophila melanogaster across two different environments in two different genetic backgrounds that were either adapted or nonadapted to the two test environments. Both environment and genetic background affected selection on individual mutations. However, the overall distribution f(s) appeared robust to changes in genetic background but both the mean, E(s), and the variance, V(s) were dependent on the environment. Between these two properties, V(s) was more sensitive to environmental change. Contrary to predictions of fitness landscape theory, the match between genetic background and assay environment (i.e., adaptedness) had little effect on f(s).

Male-biased fitness effects of spontaneous mutations in Drosophila melanogaster.

In populations with males and females, sexual selection may often represent a major component of overall selection. Sexual selection could act to eliminate deleterious alleles in concert with other forms of selection, thereby improving the fitness of sexual populations. Alternatively, the divergent reproductive strategies of the sexes could promote the maintenance of sexually antagonistic variation, causing sexual populations to be less fit. The net impact of sexual selection on fitness is not well understood, due in part to limited data on the sex-specific effects of spontaneous mutations on total fitness. Using a set of mutation accumulation lines of Drosophila melanogaster, we found that mutations were deleterious in both sexes and had larger effects on fitness in males than in females. This pattern is expected to reduce the mutation load of sexual females and promote the maintenance of sexual reproduction.

Relative effectiveness of mating success and sperm competition at eliminating deleterious mutations in Drosophila melanogaster.

Condition-dependence theory predicts that sexual selection will facilitate adaptation by selecting against deleterious mutations that affect the expression of sexually selected traits indirectly via condition. Recent empirical studies have provided support for this prediction; however, their results do not elucidate the relative effects of pre- and postcopulatory sexual selection on deleterious mutations. We used the Drosophila melanogaster model system to discern the relative contributions of pre- and postcopulatory processes to selection against deleterious mutations. To assess second-male ejaculate competition success (P2; measured as the proportion of offspring attributable to the experimental male) and mating success, mutant and wild-type male D. melanogaster were given the opportunity to mate with females that were previously mated to a standard competitor male. This process was repeated for males subjected to a diet quality manipulation to test for effects of environmentally-manipulated condition on P2 and mating success. While none of the tested mutations affected P2, there was a clear effect of condition. Conversely, several of the mutations affected mating success, while condition showed no effect. Our results suggest that precopulatory selection may be more effective than postcopulatory selection at removing deleterious mutations. The opposite result obtained for our diet manipulation points to an interesting discrepancy between environmental and genetic manipulations of condition, which may be explained by the multidimensionality of condition. Establishing whether the various stages of sexual selection affect deleterious mutations differently, and to what extent, remains an important issue to resolve.

Evidence for elevated mutation rates in low-quality genotypes.

The deleterious mutation rate plays a key role in a number of important topics in biology, from mating system evolution to human health. Despite this broad significance, the nature and causes of variation in mutation rate are poorly understood, especially in multicellular organisms. We test whether genetic quality, the presence or absence of deleterious alleles, affects the mutation rate in Drosophila melanogaster by using a modified mutation accumulation approach. We find evidence that genotypes constructed to carry deleterious "treatment" alleles on one chromosome during mutation accumulation experience an elevated mutation rate on a different chromosome. Further, this elevation is correlated with the effect of the treatment alleles on phenotypic condition, measured as body mass. Treatment alleles that reduce mass by 10% cause a doubling in the rate of mutational decline. Our results show that mutation rates are sensitive to genetic stress, such that individuals with low-quality genotypes will produce offspring of even lower genetic quality, in a mutational positive feedback loop. This type of variation in mutation rate is expected to alter a variety of predictions based on mutation load theory and accelerate adaptation to new environments. Positive mutational feedback could affect human health by increasing the rate of germline mutation, and possibly somatic mutation, in individuals of poor health because of genetic or environmental stress.

Selection, epistasis, and parent-of-origin effects on deleterious mutations across environments in Drosophila melanogaster.

Understanding the nature of selection against deleterious alleles is central to determining how populations are affected by the constant influx of new mutations. Important progress has been made in estimating basic attributes of the distribution of selection coefficients and gene interaction effects (epistasis). Although most aspects of selection are likely to be context dependent, little is known about the effect of stress on selection and epistasis at the level of individual genes, especially in multicellular organisms. Using Drosophila melanogaster, we measure how selection on 20 mutant alleles is affected by direct and indirect genetic factors across two environments. We find that environmental stress increases selection against individual mutations but reduces selection against combinations of mutations (i.e., epistasis becomes more positive). In addition, we find a high incidence of indirect genetic effects whereby the strength of selection against the alleles carried by offspring is dependent on the genotypes of their parents.