title: Unbiased estimation of mutation rates under fluctuating final counts.
abstract: Estimation methods for mutation rates (or probabilities) in Luria-Delbrück fluctuation analysis usually assume that the final number of cells remains constant from one culture to another. We show that this leads to systematically underestimate the mutation rate. Two levels of information on final numbers are considered: either the coefficient of variation has been independently estimated, or the final number of cells in each culture is known. In both cases, unbiased estimation methods are proposed. Their statistical properties are assessed both theoretically and through Monte-Carlo simulation. As an application, the data from two well known fluctuation analysis studies on Mycobacterium tuberculosis are reexamined.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Jean Kuntzmann, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France; Laboratoire d'Excellence "TOUCAN" (Toulouse Cancer), Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ycart
authors.affiliation: Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, CR7, Centre d'Immunologie et des Maladies Infectieuses, CIMI, Team E13 (Bacteriology), Paris, France; INSERM, U1135, Centre d'Immunologie et des Maladies Infectieuses, CIMI, Team E13 (Bacteriology), Paris, France; AP-HP, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Centre National de Référence des Mycobactéries et de la Résistance des Mycobactéries aux Antituberculeux, Laboratoire de Bactériologie-Hygiène, Paris, France; Mycobacteria Research Laboratories, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Veziris
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D059645:Mutation Rate; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics*; D011336:Probability; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000382:microbiology