Properties of ethylmethane sulfonate-induced mutations affecting life-history traits in Caenorhabditis elegans and inferences about bivariate distributions of mutation effects. 2000

P D Keightley, and E K Davies, and A D Peters, and R G Shaw
Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, Scotland. p.keightley@ed.ac.uk

The homozygous effects of ethylmethane sulfonate (EMS)-induced mutations in Caenorhabditis elegans are compared across life-history traits. Mutagenesis has a greater effect on early than late reproductive output, since EMS-induced mutations tend to cause delayed reproduction. Mutagenesis changes the mean and variance of longevity much less than reproductive output traits. Mutations that increase total or early productivity are not detected, but the net effect of mutations is to increase and decrease late productivity to approximately equal extents. Although most mutations decrease longevity, a mutant line with increased longevity was found. A flattening of mortality curves with age is noted, particularly in EMS lines. We infer that less than one-tenth of mutations that have fitness effects in natural conditions are detected in the laboratory, and such mutations have moderately large effects ( approximately 20% of the mean). Mutational correlations for life-history traits are strong and positive. Correlations between early or late productivity and longevity are of similar magnitude. We develop a maximum-likelihood procedure to infer bivariate distributions of mutation effects. We show that strong mutation-induced genetic correlations do not necessarily imply strong directional correlations between mutational effects, since correlation is also generated by lines carrying different numbers of mutations.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008136 Longevity The normal length of time of an organism's life. Length of Life,Life Span,Lifespan,Life Spans,Lifespans
D009153 Mutagens Chemical agents that increase the rate of genetic mutation by interfering with the function of nucleic acids. A clastogen is a specific mutagen that causes breaks in chromosomes. Clastogen,Clastogens,Genotoxin,Genotoxins,Mutagen
D009154 Mutation Any detectable and heritable change in the genetic material that causes a change in the GENOTYPE and which is transmitted to daughter cells and to succeeding generations. Mutations
D012098 Reproduction The total process by which organisms produce offspring. (Stedman, 25th ed) Human Reproductive Index,Human Reproductive Indexes,Reproductive Period,Human Reproductive Indices,Index, Human Reproductive,Indexes, Human Reproductive,Indices, Human Reproductive,Period, Reproductive,Periods, Reproductive,Reproductive Index, Human,Reproductive Indices, Human,Reproductive Periods
D005020 Ethyl Methanesulfonate An antineoplastic agent with alkylating properties. It also acts as a mutagen by damaging DNA and is used experimentally for that effect. Ethylmethane Sulfonate,Ethyl Mesilate,Ethyl Mesylate,Ethylmesilate,Ethylmesylate,Mesilate, Ethyl,Mesylate, Ethyl,Methanesulfonate, Ethyl,Sulfonate, Ethylmethane
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D017173 Caenorhabditis elegans A species of nematode that is widely used in biological, biochemical, and genetic studies. Caenorhabditis elegan,elegan, Caenorhabditis
D017238 Genes, Helminth The functional hereditary units of HELMINTHS. Helminth Genes,Gene, Helminth,Helminth Gene

Related Publications

P D Keightley, and E K Davies, and A D Peters, and R G Shaw
December 2003, Genetical research,
P D Keightley, and E K Davies, and A D Peters, and R G Shaw
January 1999, Genetics,
P D Keightley, and E K Davies, and A D Peters, and R G Shaw
March 1996, Genetics,
P D Keightley, and E K Davies, and A D Peters, and R G Shaw
January 2007, Heredity,
P D Keightley, and E K Davies, and A D Peters, and R G Shaw
December 2014, BMC evolutionary biology,
P D Keightley, and E K Davies, and A D Peters, and R G Shaw
January 1986, Journal of cell science. Supplement,
P D Keightley, and E K Davies, and A D Peters, and R G Shaw
April 2001, Genetics,
P D Keightley, and E K Davies, and A D Peters, and R G Shaw
June 1993, Genetics,
P D Keightley, and E K Davies, and A D Peters, and R G Shaw
January 2008, BMC evolutionary biology,
P D Keightley, and E K Davies, and A D Peters, and R G Shaw
January 2015, PloS one,
Copied contents to your clipboard!