Comment on "Transitions to asexuality result in excess amino acid substitutions".
Paland and Lynch (Reports, 17 February 2006, p. 990) showed that in Daphnia pulex, the ratio of amino acid replacement to silent substitution in mitochondrial genes is higher in asexual lineages than in sexual lineages. If this base-composition bias is maintained by selection, it too should alter following transitions in reproductive mode. Analysis reveals no such change in the genomes of D. pulex.
Butlin
Roger
R
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK. r.k.butlin@sheffield.ac.uk
D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D001482:Base Composition; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D003621:Daphnia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D050259:Genes, Mitochondrial; D008297:Male; D009154:Mutation; D012100:Reproduction, Asexual; D012641:Selection, Genetic
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial