Mutations: more common than you thought

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Previous studies have used fitness-based assays to assess the number of mutations that developed in each line, yielding an indirect estimate

of mutation rate. For a more direct estimate, Denver and colleagues have now revisited a collection of these special worm lines and sequenced more than 4 Mb of loci scattered around the

genome. In a recent paper in _Nature_, they report the total haploid genomic mutation rate to be approximately 2.1 mutations per genome per generation — an estimate that is an order of

magnitude higher than previous best guesses, and 2 orders higher than the indirect estimate from the same collection (although the previous estimates referred to deleterious mutation rate,

whereas these authors estimate total mutation rate). Not only that, but the more frequently observed mutations were insertions, in contrast to reports based on pseudogenes that indicated

that most naturally occurring mutations in worms are deletions. So, with one study, Denver and colleagues prompt the entire field to rethink the process of mutation over time and our

measurement of it. It does not take long for this to generate controversy: in a thought-provoking News and Views piece, Rosenberg and Hastings speculate on the mechanisms at work in the

Denver study. Either previous estimates were wrong because they only detected mutations that produce phenotypes, as Denver _et al_. would suggest, or the new study uses methods that push the

worms to develop more mutations even in the absence of deleterious selection, maybe even through triggering stress-response pathways. Future studies might have to bring the worms out of

their posh retirement to settle the question. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Subscribe to this journal

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REFERENCES ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER * Denver, D. R. et al. High mutation rate and predominance of insertions in the _Caenorhabditis elegans_ nuclear genome. _Nature_ 430, 679–682 (2004)

Article  CAS  Google Scholar  FURTHER READING * Rosenberg, S. M. & Hastings, P. J. Worming into genetic instability. _Nature_ 430, 625–626 (2004) Article  CAS  Google Scholar  Download

references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Senior Editor, Nature, Chris Gunter Authors * Chris Gunter View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed 

Google Scholar RELATED LINKS RELATED LINKS WEB SITE NemATOL RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Gunter, C. Mutations: more common than you

thought. _Nat Rev Genet_ 5, 640 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg1436 Download citation * Issue Date: 01 September 2004 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg1436 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you

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