A Database of Drosophila Genes & Genomes

FB2013_03, released May 7th, 2013
 

Reference Report

Reference
Citation Moriyama, E.N., Powell, J.R. (1997). Synonymous substitution rates in Drosophila: mitochondrial versus nuclear genes.  J. Mol. Evol. 45(4): 378--391. (Export to RIS)
FlyBase ID FBrf0098855
Publication Type Research paper
PubMed ID 9321417
PubMed Abstract Synonymous substitution rates in mitochondrial and nuclear genes of Drosophila were compared. To make accurate comparisons, we considered the following: (1) relative synonymous rates, which do not require divergence time estimates, should be used; (2) methods estimating divergence should take into account base composition; (3) only very closely related species should be used to avoid effects of saturation; (4) the heterogeneity of rates should be examined. We modified the methods estimating synonymous substitution numbers to account for base composition bias. By using these methods, we found that mitochondrial genes have 1.7-3.4 times higher synonymous substitution rates than the fastest nuclear genes or 4.5-9.0 times higher rates than the average nuclear genes. The average rate of synonymous transversions was 2.7 (estimated from the melanogaster species subgroup) or 2.9 (estimated from the obscura group) times higher in mitochondrial genes than in nuclear genes. Synonymous transversions in mitochondrial genes occurred at an approximately equivalent rate to those in the fastest nuclear genes. This last result is not consistent with the hypothesis that the difference in turnover rates between mitochondrial and nuclear genomes is the major factor determining higher synonymous substitution rates in mtDNA. We conclude that the difference in synonymous substitution rates is due to a combination of two factors: a higher transitional mutation rate in mtDNA and constraints on nuclear genes due to selection for codon usage.
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Language of Publication English
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Publication Type Journal
Abbreviation J. Mol. Evol.
Title Journal of Molecular Evolution
Publication Year 1971-
ISBN/ISSN 0022-2844
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