Dataset Information

Estimate of the spontaneous mutation rate in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

ABSTRACT: The nature of spontaneous mutations, including their rate, distribution across the genome, and fitness consequences, is of central importance to biology. However, the low rate of mutation has made it difficult to study spontaneous mutagenesis, and few studies have directly addressed these questions. Here, we present a direct estimate of the mutation rate and a description of the properties of new spontaneous mutations in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We conducted a mutation accumulation experiment for ?350 generations followed by whole-genome resequencing of two replicate lines. Our analysis identified a total of 14 mutations, including 5 short indels and 9 single base mutations, and no evidence of larger structural mutations. From this, we estimate a total mutation rate of 3.23 × 10(-10)/site/generation (95% C.I. 1.82 × 10(-10) to 5.23 × 10(-10)) and a single base mutation rate of 2.08 × 10(-10)/site/generation (95% C.I., 1.09 × 10(-10) to 3.74 × 10(-10)). We observed no mutations from A/T ? G/C, suggesting a strong mutational bias toward A/T, although paradoxically, the GC content of the C. reinhardtii genome is very high. Our estimate is only the second direct estimate of the mutation rate from plants and among the lowest spontaneous base-substitution rates known in eukaryotes.

SUBMITTER: Ness RW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3512149 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Estimate of the spontaneous mutation rate in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Ness Rob W RW Morgan Andrew D AD Colegrave Nick N Keightley Peter D PD

Genetics 20121010 4

The nature of spontaneous mutations, including their rate, distribution across the genome, and fitness consequences, is of central importance to biology. However, the low rate of mutation has made it difficult to study spontaneous mutagenesis, and few studies have directly addressed these questions. Here, we present a direct estimate of the mutation rate and a description of the properties of new spontaneous mutations in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We conducted a mutati ...[more]

PMID: 23051642

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Project description:Interest in exploiting algae as a biofuel source and the role of nutrient deficiency in inducing triacylglyceride (TAG) accumulation in cells necessitates a strategy to efficiently formulate species-specific culture media that can be easily manipulated. Using the reference organism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, we tested the hypothesis that modeling trace element supplements on the ionomes of cells would result in optimized cell growth. We characterized the ionomes of multiple wild-type Chlamydomonas strains in various culture conditions and developed a revised trace element solution to parallel our measurements. Comparison of cells growing in the revised supplement versus a traditional trace element solution revealed faster growth rates and higher maximum cell densities with the revised recipe. RNA-seq analysis of cultures growing in the traditional versus revised medium suggest that the variation in transcriptomes was smaller than that found between laboratories using the same supplement. Visual observation did not reveal defects in cell motility or mating efficiency. Ni2+-inducible expression from the CYC6 promoter remained a useful tool, albeit with an increased amount of Ni2+ supplementation due to the introduction of an EDTA buffer system in the revised medium. Equilibrium modeling of the revised supplement predicts less metal precipitation in the revised medium. Other advantages include more facile preparation of trace element stock solutions that can readily be adapted for deficiency studies, a reduction in total chemical use, a more consistent batch-to-batch formulation, and long-term stability (up to 5 years). Under the new growth regime, we analyzed cells growing under different macro- and micronutrient-deficiencies. In N and S deficiency, cells accumulate TAG as well in the new medium as previously demonstrated. Fe and Zn deficiency also induced TAG accumulation as suggested by Nile Red and Bodipy staining. This ionomic approach can be used to efficiently optimize culturing conditions for other algal species to improve growth and assay cell physiology.

Dataset Information

Estimate of the spontaneous mutation rate in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Publications

Estimate of the spontaneous mutation rate in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Similar Datasets

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