title: Luria-Delbrück fluctuation analysis: estimating the Poisson parameter in a compound Poisson distribution.
abstract: Estimating the mutation rate from a Luria-Delbrück fluctuation experiment involves estimating the Poisson parameter in a compound Poisson distribution. The efficiency with which this can be estimated depends on how well the other random factors have been characterized. The assumption that cell growth can be represented as a stochastic pure birth or Yule process is biologically unrealistic but contributes little to the bias and variance of a maximum likelihood estimator of the mutation rate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Histology, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wheldrake
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rogers
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002999:Clone Cells; D006224:Cricetinae; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008432:Mathematical Computing; D008954:Models, Biological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D011336:Probability; D013269:Stochastic Processes