Transiently beneficial insertions could maintain mobile DNA sequences in variable environments
Transiently beneficial insertions could maintain mobile DNA sequences in variable environments
The maintenance of mobile DNA sequences in clonal organisms has been seen as a paradox. If selfish mobile sequences spread through genomes only by overreplication in transposition, then sexuality is necessary for their spread through populations. The persistence of bacterial transposable elements without obvious dominant selectable markers has previously been explained by horizontal transfer. However, advantageous insertions of mobile DNAs are known in bacteria. Here we model maintenance of an otherwise selfish mobile DNA element in a clonal species in which selection for null mutations occurs during one of two temporally alternating environments. Large areas of parameter space permit maintenance of mobile DNAs where, without selection, they would have gone extinct. Horizontal transfer diminishes, rather than enhances, mean copy number. In finite populations, effective population sizes are greatly reduced by selective sweeps, and mean copy number can be increased as the reduced variance in copy number results in reduced selection.
transient insertion mutations, transposable elements, mobile dna, insertion sequences
30-37
Edwards, Richard J
9d25e74f-dc0d-455a-832c-5f363d864c43
Brookfield, John F.Y.
f4af37a6-4dc2-4c47-8d2e-365cb119454f
January 2003
Edwards, Richard J
9d25e74f-dc0d-455a-832c-5f363d864c43
Brookfield, John F.Y.
f4af37a6-4dc2-4c47-8d2e-365cb119454f
Edwards, Richard J and Brookfield, John F.Y.
(2003)
Transiently beneficial insertions could maintain mobile DNA sequences in variable environments.
Molecular Biology and Evolution, 20 (1), .
(doi:10.1093/molbev/msg001).
(PMID:12519903)
Abstract
The maintenance of mobile DNA sequences in clonal organisms has been seen as a paradox. If selfish mobile sequences spread through genomes only by overreplication in transposition, then sexuality is necessary for their spread through populations. The persistence of bacterial transposable elements without obvious dominant selectable markers has previously been explained by horizontal transfer. However, advantageous insertions of mobile DNAs are known in bacteria. Here we model maintenance of an otherwise selfish mobile DNA element in a clonal species in which selection for null mutations occurs during one of two temporally alternating environments. Large areas of parameter space permit maintenance of mobile DNAs where, without selection, they would have gone extinct. Horizontal transfer diminishes, rather than enhances, mean copy number. In finite populations, effective population sizes are greatly reduced by selective sweeps, and mean copy number can be increased as the reduced variance in copy number results in reduced selection.
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Published date: January 2003
Keywords:
transient insertion mutations, transposable elements, mobile dna, insertion sequences
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Local EPrints ID: 151155
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/151155
PURE UUID: ec980d1a-a3f8-4210-9d1a-33cb29143a2e
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Date deposited: 13 May 2010 12:53
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 01:20
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Author:
Richard J Edwards
Author:
John F.Y. Brookfield
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