EMS-induced polygenic mutation rates for nine quantitative characters in Drosophila melanogaster. 1998

P D Keightley, and O Ohnishi
Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. p.keightley@edinburgh.ac.uk

Polygenic mutations were induced by treating Drosophila melanogaster adult males with 2.5 mM EMS. The treated second chromosomes, along with untreated controls, were then made homozygous, and five life history, two behavioral, and two morphological traits were measured. EMS mutagenesis led to reduced performance for life history traits. Changes in means and increments in genetic variance were relatively much higher for life history than for morphological traits, implying large differences in mutational target size. Maximum likelihood was used to estimate mutation rates and parameters of distributions of mutation effects, but parameters were strongly confounded with one another. Several traits showed evidence of leptokurtic distributions of effects and mean effects smaller than a few percent of trait means. Distributions of effects for all traits were strongly asymmetrical, and most mutations were deleterious. Correlations between life history mutation effects were positive. Mutation parameters for one generation of spontaneous mutation were predicted by scaling parameter estimates from the EMS experiment, extrapolated to the whole genome. Predicted mutational coefficients of variation were in good agreement with published estimates. Predicted changes in means were up to 0.14% or 0.6% for life history traits, depending on the model of scaling assumed.

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
D008297 Male Males
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
D003433 Crosses, Genetic Deliberate breeding of two different individuals that results in offspring that carry part of the genetic material of each parent. The parent organisms must be genetically compatible and may be from different varieties or closely related species. Cross, Genetic,Genetic Cross,Genetic Crosses
D004331 Drosophila melanogaster A species of fruit fly frequently used in genetics because of the large size of its chromosomes. D. melanogaster,Drosophila melanogasters,melanogaster, Drosophila
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
D005260 Female Females
D005298 Fertility The capacity to conceive or to induce conception. It may refer to either the male or female. Fecundity,Below Replacement Fertility,Differential Fertility,Fecundability,Fertility Determinants,Fertility Incentives,Fertility Preferences,Fertility, Below Replacement,Marital Fertility,Natural Fertility,Subfecundity,World Fertility Survey,Determinant, Fertility,Determinants, Fertility,Fertility Determinant,Fertility Incentive,Fertility Preference,Fertility Survey, World,Fertility Surveys, World,Fertility, Differential,Fertility, Marital,Fertility, Natural,Preference, Fertility,Preferences, Fertility,Survey, World Fertility,Surveys, World Fertility,World Fertility Surveys
D000704 Analysis of Variance A statistical technique that isolates and assesses the contributions of categorical independent variables to variation in the mean of a continuous dependent variable. ANOVA,Analysis, Variance,Variance Analysis,Analyses, Variance,Variance Analyses

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