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R2d2 Drives Selfish Sweeps in the House Mouse

Overview of attention for article published in Molecular Biology and Evolution, February 2016
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  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (98th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (93rd percentile)

Mentioned by

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10 news outlets
blogs
3 blogs
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20 X users
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1 Facebook page
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2 Q&A threads

Citations

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54 Dimensions

Readers on

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103 Mendeley
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Title
R2d2 Drives Selfish Sweeps in the House Mouse
Published in
Molecular Biology and Evolution, February 2016
DOI 10.1093/molbev/msw036
Pubmed ID
Authors

John P. Didion, Andrew P. Morgan, Liran Yadgary, Timothy A. Bell, Rachel C. McMullan, Lydia Ortiz de Solorzano, Janice Britton-Davidian, Carol J. Bult, Karl J. Campbell, Riccardo Castiglia, Yung-Hao Ching, Amanda J. Chunco, James J. Crowley, Elissa J. Chesler, Daniel W. Förster, John E. French, Sofia I. Gabriel, Daniel M. Gatti, Theodore Garland, Eva B. Giagia-Athanasopoulou, Mabel D. Giménez, Sofia A. Grize, İslam Gündüz, Andrew Holmes, Heidi C. Hauffe, Jeremy S. Herman, James M. Holt, Kunjie Hua, Wesley J. Jolley, Anna K. Lindholm, María J. López-Fuster, George Mitsainas, Maria da Luz Mathias, Leonard McMillan, Maria da Graça Morgado Ramalhinho, Barbara Rehermann, Stephan P. Rosshart, Jeremy B. Searle, Meng-Shin Shiao, Emanuela Solano, Karen L. Svenson, Patricia Thomas-Laemont, David W. Threadgill, Jacint Ventura, George M. Weinstock, Daniel Pomp, Gary A. Churchill, Fernando Pardo-Manuel de Villena

Abstract

A selective sweep is the result of strong positive selection driving newly occurring or standing genetic variants to fixation, and can dramatically alter the pattern and distribution of allelic diversity in a population. Population-level sequencing data have enabled discoveries of selective sweeps associated with genes involved in recent adaptations in many species. In contrast, much debate but little evidence addresses whether "selfish" genes are capable of fixation - thereby leaving signatures identical to classical selective sweeps - despite being neutral or deleterious to organismal fitness. We previously described R2d2, a large copy-number variant that causes non-random segregation of mouse Chromosome 2 in females due to meiotic drive. Here we show population-genetic data consistent with a selfish sweep driven by alleles of R2d2 with high copy number (R2d2(HC)) in natural populations. We replicate this finding in multiple closed breeding populations from six outbred backgrounds segregating for R2d2 alleles. We find that R2d2(HC) rapidly increases in frequency, and in most cases becomes fixed in significantly fewer generations than can be explained by genetic drift. R2d2(HC) is also associated with significantly reduced litter sizes in heterozygous mothers, making it a true selfish allele. Our data provide direct evidence of populations actively undergoing selfish sweeps, and demonstrate that meiotic drive can rapidly alter the genomic landscape in favor of mutations with neutral or even negative effects on overall Darwinian fitness. Further study will reveal the incidence of selfish sweeps, and will elucidate the relative contributions of selfish genes, adaptation and genetic drift to evolution.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 20 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 103 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Switzerland 1 <1%
Unknown 102 99%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 27 26%
Student > Ph. D. Student 17 17%
Student > Master 11 11%
Student > Bachelor 11 11%
Student > Doctoral Student 6 6%
Other 15 15%
Unknown 16 16%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 35 34%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 32 31%
Medicine and Dentistry 5 5%
Environmental Science 3 3%
Economics, Econometrics and Finance 2 2%
Other 8 8%
Unknown 18 17%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 102. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 16 August 2017.
All research outputs
#414,706
of 25,397,764 outputs
Outputs from Molecular Biology and Evolution
#133
of 5,218 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#7,948
of 412,654 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Molecular Biology and Evolution
#5
of 63 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,397,764 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 98th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,218 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 17.6. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 412,654 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 63 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 93% of its contemporaries.