Question

In a population of effective population size

ne

, with rate of neutral mutation µ0, the

frequency of heterozygotes per nucleotide site

at equilibrium between mutation and genetic

drift is calculated as

Answer 1

Answer:Abstract | As one of the few cellular traits that can be quantified across the tree of

life, DNA-replication fidelity provides an excellent platform for understanding

fundamental evolutionary processes. Furthermore, because mutation is the

ultimate source of all genetic variation, clarifying why mutation rates vary is crucial

for understanding all areas of biology. A potentially revealing hypothesis for

mutation-rate evolution is that natural selection primarily operates to improve

replication fidelity, with the ultimate limits to what can be achieved set by the

power of random genetic drift. This drift-barrier hypothesis is consistent with

comparative measures of mutation rates, provides a simple explanation for the

existence of error-prone polymerases and yields a formal counter-argument to

the view that selection fine-tunes gene-specific mutation rates.

Explanation: