Body temperature predicts maximum microsatellite length in mammals

Amos, William; Clarke, Andrew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7582-3074. 2008 Body temperature predicts maximum microsatellite length in mammals. Biology Letters, 4 (4). 399-401. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0209

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Abstract/Summary

A long-standing mystery in genome evolution is why short tandem repeats vary so much in length and frequency. Here, we test the hypothesis that body temperature acts to influence the rate and nature of slippage-based mutations. Using the data from both 28 species where genome sequencing is advanced and 76 species from which marker loci have been published, we show that in mammals, maximum repeat number is inversely correlated with body temperature, with warmer-blooded species having shorter 'long' microsatellites. Our results support a model of microsatellite evolution in which maximum length is limited by a temperature-dependent stability threshold.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0209
Programmes:	BAS Programmes > Other
ISSN:	1744-9561
Additional Keywords:	microsatellite; mutation; genome
NORA Subject Terms:	Biology and Microbiology
Date made live:	18 Nov 2010 13:15 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11387

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0209

Programmes:

BAS Programmes > Other

ISSN:

1744-9561

Additional Keywords:

microsatellite; mutation; genome

NORA Subject Terms:

Biology and Microbiology