2000/02/11 by Dmitri A. Petrov, Todd A. Sangster, J. Spencer Johnston +2 · 2 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #Genetic diversity and population structure #Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
paper · doi:10.1126/science.287.5455.1060
openalex publication_date 2000/02/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Eukaryotic genome sizes range over five orders of magnitude. This variation cannot be explained by differences in organismic complexity (the C value paradox). To test the hypothesis that some variation in genome size can be attributed to differences in the patterns of insertion and deletion (indel) mutations among organisms, this study examines the indel spectrum in Laupala crickets, which have a genome size 11 times larger than that of Drosophila. Consistent with the hypothesis, DNA loss is more than 40 times slower in Laupala than in Drosophila.