title: Response to Kondrashov.
abstract: The 'mutational deterministic' hypothesis proposes that a high genomic rate of deleterious mutation (U) might maintain sexual reproduction. Our recent work casts doubt on this, as we estimate a low U for sexually reproducing species with short generation times. Following criticism by Kondrashov, here we defend our methods for estimating U and challenge the mutational deterministic hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, EH9 3JT, Edinburgh, UK. p.keightley@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Keightley
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eyre-Walker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003062:Codon; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D012744:Sex Ratio
chemical_list: D003062:Codon