Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Highlight
  • Published:

Evolution

Turning up the heat

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 10, pages 512–513 (2009)Cite this article

It has been suggested that the genomic mutation rate reflects a balance between the deleterious effect of the average mutation and the cost of further reducing the mutation rate. Because proteins tend to be less stable at higher temperatures, this hypothesis predicts that the cost of mutations would be highest for thermophilic organisms, because the proteins in these organisms will be subject to more structural constraints at higher temperatures. To test this hypothesis, Drake, in collaboration with Grogan, compared the rates of mutation in two thermophilic microorganisms (a crenarchaeon, Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, and a bacterium, Thermus thermophilus) and in eight mesophilic microorganisms by extrapolating the rates of mutation in a reporter gene to the whole genomes of these organisms. They found that, compared with mesophiles, the rate of genomic mutation in thermophiles was approximately fivefold lower and the rate of base pair substitutions was approximately tenfold lower. These results indicate that mutations at higher temperatures are more dangerous for thermophiles, and are counterbalanced by decreasing the basal mutation rate in these organisms.

In a second study, Gillman and colleagues provide evidence to counter the previously held assumption that the rates of genetic change in warm-blooded animals are independent of climate. The authors compared the rate of microevolution in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene in 130 phylogenetically independent sister species pairs, in which one species occurs at a lower latitude or elevation (a warmer climate) relative to the other. They examined both marsupial and placental mammals from 10 orders and 29 families, and found that the rate of substitutions in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene were on average 1.47 times higher in mammals living in warm climates than in cooler climates.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Drake, J. W. Avoiding dangerous missense: thermophiles display especially low mutation rates. PLoS Genet. 5, e100052025

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Gillman, L. N., Keeling, D. J., Ross, H. A. & Wright, S. D. Latitude, elevation and the tempo of molecular evolution in mammals. Proc. R. Soc. B 25 Jun 2009 (doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.0674)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

FURTHER READING

  1. Eyre-Walker, A. & Keightley, P. D. The distribution of fitness effects of new mutations. Nature Rev. Genet. 8, 610–618 (2007)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Meera Swami
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Swami, M. Turning up the heat. Nat Rev Genet 10, 512–513 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2638

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2638

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing