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.

Genetics

Feedforward loop for diversity

Nature volume 523, pages 414–416 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

DNA-sequence analysis suggests that genetic mutations arise at elevated rates in genomes harbouring high levels of heterozygosity — the state in which the two copies of a genetic region contain sequence differences. See Letter p.463

The rate at which genetic mutations arise is relevant to every area of biology. Evidence indicates that mutation rates vary almost 1,000-fold between species, from 10−11 mutations per nucleotide site per generation in some unicellular organisms to approximately 10−8 in primates1. These figures represent genome-wide averages, but mutation rates can vary between nucleotide sites2,3,4 and between members of the same species5. Intraspecies differences have long been assumed to be a consequence of genetic variation at discrete regions, or loci, containing genes involved in genome-wide aspects of DNA replication and repair. But on page 463 of this issue, Yang et al.6 suggest something quite different: that mutation rates are elevated in individuals with high genome-wide levels of heterozygosity (sequence variation between the two copies, called alleles, of each genetic locus).

This is a preview of subscription content

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Generating variation.

Notes

  1. See all news & views

References

  1. Sung, W. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 109, 19339–19344 (2012).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Lynch, M. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 107, 961–968 (2010).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Foster, P. L. Genes Genomes Genet. 3, 399–407 (2013).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Sung, W. et al. Mol. Biol. Evol. 32, 1672–1683 (2015).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Schrider, D., Houle, D., Lynch, M. & Hahn, M. Genetics 194, 937–954 (2013).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Yang, S. et al. Nature 523, 463–467 (2015).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Arbeithuber, B., Betancourt, A. J., Ebner, T. & Tiemann-Boege, I. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112, 2109–2114 (2015).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Harris, K. & Nielsen, R. Genome Res. 24, 1445–1454 (2014).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Lynch, M. et al. Genetics 198, 269–281 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Amos, W. BioEssays 32, 82–90 (2010).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Chen, X. & Zhang, J. Mol. Biol. Evol. 30, 1559–1562 (2013).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Ossowski, S. et al. Science 327, 92–94 (2010).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Lynch, M. & Walsh, J. B. Genetics and Analysis of Quantitative Traits (Sinauer, 1998).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Lynch, M. Genome Biol. Evol. 3, 1107–1118 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Small, K. S., Brudno, M., Hill, M. M. & Sidow A. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 5698–5703 (2007).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Dey, A., Chan, C. K., Thomas, C. G. & Cutter, A. D. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 110, 11056–11060 (2013).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Keightley, P. D., Ness, R. W., Halligan, D. L. & Haddrill, P. R. Genetics 196, 313–320 (2014).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Venn, O. et al. Science 344, 1272–1275 (2014).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Michael Lynch is in the Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA.,

    Michael Lynch

Authors
  1. Michael Lynch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Lynch.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lynch, M. Feedforward loop for diversity. Nature 523, 414–416 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14634

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14634

Further reading

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