Lewin Loveday, Eyre-Walker Adam
School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK.
Mol Biol Evol. 2025 Apr 1;42(4). doi: 10.1093/molbev/msaf069.
Rates of molecular evolution are known to vary across species, often deviating from the classical expectation of a strict molecular clock. In many cases, the rate of molecular evolution has been found to correlate to generation time, an effect that could be explained if species with shorter generation times have higher mutation rates per year. We investigate this hypothesis using direct estimates of the mutation rate for 133 eukaryotic species from diverse taxonomic groups. Using a phylogenetic comparative approach, we find a strong negative correlation between mutation rate per year and generation time, consistent across all phylogenetic groups. Our results provide a simple explanation for why generation time plays a pivotal role in driving rates of molecular evolution across eukaryotes.
已知分子进化速率在不同物种间存在差异，常常偏离严格分子钟的经典预期。在许多情况下，已发现分子进化速率与世代时间相关，如果世代时间较短的物种每年具有更高的突变率，那么这种效应就可以得到解释。我们使用来自不同分类群的133种真核生物物种的突变率直接估计值来研究这一假设。通过系统发育比较方法，我们发现每年的突变率与世代时间之间存在强烈的负相关，在所有系统发育组中都是一致的。我们的结果为世代时间为何在驱动真核生物分子进化速率方面起关键作用提供了一个简单的解释。
