Estimating the distribution of fitness effects from DNA sequence data: Implications for the molecular clock

2003/08/18 by Gwenaël Piganeau, Adam Eyre‐Walker · 2 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #Genetic diversity and population structure #Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies

paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.1833064100

openalex publication_date 2003/08/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

We present a method for estimating the distribution of fitness effects of new amino acid mutations when those mutations can be assumed to be slightly advantageous, slightly deleterious, or strongly deleterious. We apply the method to mitochondrial data from several different species. In the majority of the data sets, the shape of the distribution is approximately exponential. Our results provide an estimate of the distribution of fitness effects of weakly selected mutations and provide a possible explanation for why the molecular clock is fairly constant across taxa and time.

Citations

• Evolutionary Divergence and Convergence in Proteins
• Fitness effects of advantageous mutations in evolving Escherichia coli populations
• Genomic mutation rates for lifetime reproductive output and lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans
• The Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution
• Equation of State Calculations by Fast Computing Machines
• The Distribution of Fitness Effects Among Beneficial Mutations
• The hitch-hiking effect of a favourable gene
• PRV Us9 Directs Axonal Sorting of Viral Capsids
• The hitch-hiking effect of a favourable gene

Cited by

• Quantifying the genomic decay paradox due to Muller's ratchet in human mitochondrial DNA
• Mutation [wikipedia]