More mutations in males

Kate Lessells ()
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Kate Lessells: the Netherlands Institute of Ecology

Nature, 1997, vol. 390, issue 6657, 236-237

Abstract: Mutations are believed to introduce genetic novelty and so are considered a crucial process in evolution. Nearly 50 years ago it was postulated that if mutations were caused by the copying of mistakes during cell division, then males should have higher mutation rates than females because of the greater number of cell divisions involved in the formation of sperm compared with the formation of eggs. This hypothesis has now been confirmed by calculation of the mutation rate in a pair of genes on the sex chromosomes (Z and W) of birds. Male birds with two Z chromosomes were found to have a higher mutation rate than female birds with a Z and a W chromosome.

Date: 1997
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DOI: 10.1038/36745

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