Department of Biological Sciences, Towson University, Towson, MD 21252-0001, USA.
Biol Lett. 2011 Feb 23;7(1):127-30. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2010.0643. Epub 2010 Aug 11.
Microsatellite loci have high mutation rates and high levels of allelic variation, but the factors influencing their mutation rate are not well understood. The proposal that heterozygosity may increase mutation rates has profound implications for understanding the evolution of microsatellite loci, but currently has limited empirical support. We examined 20 microsatellite mutations identified in an analysis of 12 260 meiotic events across three loci in two populations of a songbird, the house wren (Troglodytes aedon). We found that for an allele of a given length, mutation was significantly more likely when there was a relatively large difference in size between the allele and its homologue (i.e. a large 'allele span'). Our results support the proposal of heterozygote instability at microsatellite loci.
微卫星具有高突变率和高水平的等位基因变异,但影响其突变率的因素尚未得到很好的理解。杂合性可能增加突变率的观点对理解微卫星位点的进化具有深远的意义,但目前仅有有限的经验支持。我们研究了在对鸣禽(褐弯嘴嘲鸫)的两个种群的三个基因座的 12260 次减数分裂事件分析中发现的 20 个微卫星突变。我们发现,对于给定长度的等位基因,当该等位基因与其同源物之间存在较大的大小差异(即较大的“等位基因跨度”)时,突变的可能性显著增加。我们的结果支持微卫星位点杂合不稳定的观点。