Mutation bias reflects natural selection in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract Since the first half of the twentieth century, evolutionary theory has been dominated by the idea that mutations occur randomly with respect to their consequences 1 . Here we test this assumption with large surveys of de novo mutations in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana . In contrast to expectations, we find that mutations occur less often in functionally constrained regions of the genome—mutation frequency is reduced by half inside gene bodies and by two-thirds in essential genes. With independent genomic mutation datasets, including from the largest Arabidopsis mutation accumulation experiment conducted to date, we demonstrate that epigenomic and physical features explain over 90% of variance in the…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: 1258053, 1257902, 0845413, 0844820, DEB 1257902
• DF
  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
• M
  Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
• UO
  University of California, Davis
• DO
  Division of Environmental Biology

  Awards: 1258053, 0844820, 1257902, 0845413
• DO
  Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis