Low mutation rate in epaulette sharks is consistent with a slow rate of evolution in sharks.
Ashley T Sendell-Price, Frank J Tulenko, Mats Pettersson, Du Kang, Margo Montandon, Sylke Winkler, Kathleen Kulb, Gavin P Naylor, Adam Phillippy, Olivier Fedrigo, Jacquelyn Mountcastle, Jennifer R Balacco, Amalia Dutra, Rebecca E Dale, Bettina Haase, Erich D Jarvis, Gene Myers, Shawn M Burgess, Peter D Currie, Leif Andersson, Manfred Schartl
Author Information
Ashley T Sendell-Price: Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, SE75123, Uppsala, Sweden. ORCID
Frank J Tulenko: Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University, Victoria, 3800, Australia.
Mats Pettersson: Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, SE75123, Uppsala, Sweden. ORCID
Du Kang: The Xiphophorus Genetic Stock Center, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA. ORCID
Margo Montandon: Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University, Victoria, 3800, Australia. ORCID
Sylke Winkler: Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, 01307, Dresden, Germany. ORCID
Kathleen Kulb: Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, 01307, Dresden, Germany.
Gavin P Naylor: Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
Adam Phillippy: Translational and Functional Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health Bethesda, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA. ORCID
Olivier Fedrigo: Vertebrate Genome Laboratory, Rockefeller University, New York, NY, 10065, USA.
Jacquelyn Mountcastle: Research Center for Genomic and Computational Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
Jennifer R Balacco: Research Center for Genomic and Computational Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
Amalia Dutra: Cytogenetics and Microscopy Core, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health Bethesda, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
Rebecca E Dale: Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University, Victoria, 3800, Australia.
Bettina Haase: Vertebrate Genome Laboratory, Rockefeller University, New York, NY, 10065, USA.
Erich D Jarvis: Vertebrate Genome Laboratory, Rockefeller University, New York, NY, 10065, USA. ORCID
Gene Myers: Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, 01307, Dresden, Germany. ORCID
Shawn M Burgess: Translational and Functional Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health Bethesda, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA. burgess@mail.nih.gov. ORCID
Peter D Currie: Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University, Victoria, 3800, Australia. peter.currie@monash.edu. ORCID
Leif Andersson: Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, SE75123, Uppsala, Sweden. leif.andersson@imbim.uu.se. ORCID
Manfred Schartl: Developmental Biochemistry, Theodor-Boveri Institute, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, 97074, Würzburg, Germany. phch1@biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de. ORCID
Sharks occupy diverse ecological niches and play critical roles in marine ecosystems, often acting as apex predators. They are considered a slow-evolving lineage and have been suggested to exhibit exceptionally low cancer rates. These two features could be explained by a low nuclear mutation rate. Here, we provide a direct estimate of the nuclear mutation rate in the epaulette shark (Hemiscyllium ocellatum). We generate a high-quality reference genome, and resequence the whole genomes of parents and nine offspring to detect de novo mutations. Using stringent criteria, we estimate a mutation rate of 7×10 per base pair, per generation. This represents one of the lowest directly estimated mutation rates for any vertebrate clade, indicating that this basal vertebrate group is indeed a slowly evolving lineage whose ability to restore genetic diversity following a sustained population bottleneck may be hampered by a low mutation rate.
References
Proc Biol Sci. 2008 Jan 7;275(1630):83-9
[PMID: 17956843]
