---
_id: '2720'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: 'Knowledge of the rate and fitness effects of mutations is essential for understanding
    the process of evolution. Mutations are inherently difficult to study because
    they are rare and are frequently eliminated by natural selection. In the ciliate
    Tetrahymena thermophila, mutations can accumulate in the germline genome without
    being exposed to selection. We have conducted a mutation accumulation (MA) experiment
    in this species. Assuming that all mutations are deleterious and have the same
    effect, we estimate that the deleterious mutation rate per haploid germline genome
    per generation is U = 0.0047 (95% credible interval: 0.0015, 0.0125), and that
    germline mutations decrease fitness by s = 11% when expressed in a homozygous
    state (95% CI: 4.4%, 27%). We also estimate that deleterious mutations are partially
    recessive on average (h = 0.26; 95% CI: –0.022, 0.62) and that the rate of lethal
    mutations is <10% of the deleterious mutation rate. Comparisons between the
    observed evolutionary responses in the germline and somatic genomes and the results
    from individual-based simulations of MA suggest that the two genomes have similar
    mutational parameters. These are the first estimates of the deleterious mutation
    rate and fitness effects from the eukaryotic supergroup Chromalveolata and are
    within the range of those of other eukaryotes.'
article_processing_charge: No
author:
- first_name: Hongan
  full_name: Long, Hongan
  last_name: Long
- first_name: Tiago
  full_name: Paixao, Tiago
  id: 2C5658E6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Paixao
  orcid: 0000-0003-2361-3953
- first_name: Ricardo
  full_name: Azevedo, Ricardo
  last_name: Azevedo
- first_name: Rebecca
  full_name: Zufall, Rebecca
  last_name: Zufall
citation:
  ama: Long H, Paixao T, Azevedo R, Zufall R. Accumulation of spontaneous mutations
    in the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila. <i>Genetics</i>. 2013;195(2):527-540.
    doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.113.153536">10.1534/genetics.113.153536</a>
  apa: Long, H., Paixao, T., Azevedo, R., &#38; Zufall, R. (2013). Accumulation of
    spontaneous mutations in the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila. <i>Genetics</i>.
    Genetics Society of America. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.113.153536">https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.113.153536</a>
  chicago: Long, Hongan, Tiago Paixao, Ricardo Azevedo, and Rebecca Zufall. “Accumulation
    of Spontaneous Mutations in the Ciliate Tetrahymena Thermophila.” <i>Genetics</i>.
    Genetics Society of America, 2013. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.113.153536">https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.113.153536</a>.
  ieee: H. Long, T. Paixao, R. Azevedo, and R. Zufall, “Accumulation of spontaneous
    mutations in the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila,” <i>Genetics</i>, vol. 195,
    no. 2. Genetics Society of America, pp. 527–540, 2013.
  ista: Long H, Paixao T, Azevedo R, Zufall R. 2013. Accumulation of spontaneous mutations
    in the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila. Genetics. 195(2), 527–540.
  mla: Long, Hongan, et al. “Accumulation of Spontaneous Mutations in the Ciliate
    Tetrahymena Thermophila.” <i>Genetics</i>, vol. 195, no. 2, Genetics Society of
    America, 2013, pp. 527–40, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.113.153536">10.1534/genetics.113.153536</a>.
  short: H. Long, T. Paixao, R. Azevedo, R. Zufall, Genetics 195 (2013) 527–540.
date_created: 2018-12-11T11:59:15Z
date_published: 2013-10-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2025-09-29T14:08:19Z
day: '01'
department:
- _id: NiBa
- _id: CaGu
doi: 10.1534/genetics.113.153536
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
  isi:
  - '000325286200020'
  pmid:
  - '23934880'
fulldoi: https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.113.153536
intvolume: '       195'
isi: 1
issue: '2'
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3781978/
month: '10'
oa: 1
oa_version: Submitted Version
page: 527-540
pmid: 1
project:
- _id: 25B07788-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
  call_identifier: FP7
  grant_number: '250152'
  name: Limits to selection in biology and in evolutionary computation
publication: Genetics
publication_status: published
publisher: Genetics Society of America
publist_id: '4172'
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Accumulation of spontaneous mutations in the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila
type: journal_article
user_id: 317138e5-6ab7-11ef-aa6d-ffef3953e345
volume: 195
year: '2013'
...