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Scientific Background of the Simulator-Models Here you will find more
information on the scientific background and the questions that motivated the models, as the simulators are build. A central theme adressed by the next few simulators are the consequences of spontaneous
deleterious mutations with small effects. (Lynch et al., 1999; Drake et al., 1998). These can accumulate in populations over evolutionary time, when selection is not strong enough to remove them. If this
accumulation is not stopped somehow, these mutations may drive a species to extinction - something of considerable interest for conservation biology. However, there are several biological processes that can keep
a species from extinction. Besides estimating the extent to which these processes damage genomes, the next simulators target some of these processes and will help estimate their strength in keeping the simulated
populations from extinction. So please, do not stand up from your screen and conclude things about extinctions that are in no way clear yet. A few references of interest:
- Loewe L & Scherer S (1997) Mitochondrial Eve: the plot thickens. Trends Ecol. Evol. 12:422-423. *** This paper summarizes evidence for higher mutation rates in mitochondrial DNA. The next simulators are
devoted to testing the selection hypothesis mentioned in this paper
- Lynch M et al. (1999) Perspective: Spontaneous deleterious mutations. Evolution 53:645-663. *** Nice review about slightly deleterious mutation rates.
- Drake, JW et al. (1998) Rates of spontaneous mutation. Genetics 148:1667-1686. *** Nice review about spontaneous mutation rates in general.
- Eyre-Walker A & Keightley PD (1999) High genomic deleterious mutation rates in hominids. Nature 397:344-347. *** Mutation rates are surprisingly high.
- Denver, DR et al. (2000) High direct estimate of the mutation rate in the mitochondrial genome of Caenorhabditis elegans. Science 289:2342-2344.
MITOMAP: A human mitochondrial genome database.
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