Fidelity drive: A mechanism for chaperone proteins to maintain stable mutation rates in prokaryotes over evolutionary time. (7th January 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xue, Julian Z.; Kaznatcheev, Artem; Costopoulos, Andre; Guichard, Frederic
• Is Part Of: Journal of theoretical biology. Volume 364(2015)
• Page Start: 162
• Page End: 167
• Publication Date: 2015-01-07
• Subjects: Second-order selection -- Mutation rate -- Evolution of mutation -- Natural distribution of mutation rate -- Mutator strains; Biology -- Periodicals; Biological Science Disciplines -- Periodicals; Biology -- Periodicals; Biologie -- Périodiques; Theoretische biologie; Biology; Periodicals; 571.05
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2014.09.017
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-5193

Abstract

Abstract: We show a mechanism by which chaperone proteins can play a key role in maintaining the long-term evolutionary stability of mutation rates in prokaryotes with perfect genetic linkage. Since chaperones can reduce the phenotypic effects of mutations, higher mutation rate, by affecting chaperones, can increase the phenotypic effects of mutations. This in turn leads to greater mutation effect among the proteins that control mutation repair and DNA replication, resulting in large changes in mutation rate. The converse of this is that when mutation rate is low and chaperones are functioning well, then the rate of change in mutation rate will also be low, leading to low mutation rates being evolutionarily frozen. We show that the strength of this recursion is critical to determining the long-term evolutionary patterns of mutation rate among prokaryotes. If this recursion is weak, then mutation rates can grow without bound, leading to the extinction of the lineage. However, if this recursion is strong, then we can reproduce empirical patterns of prokaryotic mutation rates, where mutation rates remain stable over evolutionary time, and where most mutation rates are low, but with a significant fraction of high mutators. Abstract : Highlights: We model how mutation rates recursively affect itself. Faster mutation rates mean that mutation rates change faster and vice versa. Chaperones increase the strength of this recursion. This recursion explains the empirical pattern of mutation rates without natural selection.