How mutations accumulate in genomes is the central question of molecular evolution theories. However, our understanding of this process is far from complete. Drake’s rule is a notoriously universal property of genomes from microbes to mammals—the number of (functional) mutations per-genome per-generation is approximately constant within a phylum, despite the orders of magnitude differences in genome sizes and diverse populations’ properties. So far, there is no concise explanation for this phenomenon. A formal model for the storage of genetic information suggests that a genome of any species operates near its maximum informational storage capacity, and the mutation rate per-genome per-generation is near its upper limit, providing a simple explanation for the rule with minimal assumptions.
CITATION STYLE
Shadrin, A. A., & Parkhomchuk, D. V. (2014). Drake’s rule as a consequence of approaching channel capacity. Naturwissenschaften, 101(11), 939–954. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-014-1235-6
Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.