Wild pedigrees inform mutation rates and historic abundance in baleen whales

Marcos Suárez-Menéndez; Martine Bérubé; Fabrício Furni; Vania E Rivera-León; Mads-Peter Heide-Jørgensen; Finn Larsen; Richard Sears; Christian Ramp; Britas Klemens Eriksson; Rampal S Etienne; Jooke Robbins; Per J Palsbøll

doi:10.1126/science.adf2160

Wild pedigrees inform mutation rates and historic abundance in baleen whales

Marcos Suárez-Menéndez^*, Martine Bérubé, Fabrício Furni, Vania E Rivera-León, Mads-Peter Heide-Jørgensen, Finn Larsen, Richard Sears, Christian Ramp, Britas Klemens Eriksson, Rampal S Etienne, Jooke Robbins, Per J Palsbøll

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

87 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Phylogeny-based estimates suggesting a low germline mutation rate (μ) in baleen whales have influenced research ranging from assessments of whaling impacts to evolutionary cancer biology. We estimated μ directly from pedigrees in four baleen whale species for both the mitochondrial control region and nuclear genome. The results suggest values higher than those obtained through phylogeny-based estimates and similar to pedigree-based values for primates and toothed whales. Applying our estimate of μ reduces previous genetic-based estimates of preexploitation whale abundance by 86% and suggests that μ cannot explain low cancer rates in gigantic mammals. Our study shows that it is feasible to estimate μ directly from pedigrees in natural populations, with wide-ranging implications for ecological and evolutionary research.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	990-995
Number of pages	5
Journal	Science
Volume	381
Issue number	6661
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adf2160
Publication status	Published - 31-Aug-2023

Access to Document

10.1126/science.adf2160

Wild pedigrees inform mutation rates and historic abundance in baleen whalesFinal publisher's version, 902 KBLicence: Taverne

https://www.science.org/stoken/author-tokens/ST-1422/full

Handle.net

Persistent link

5 Citations
1 Preprint

Direct estimation of genome mutation rates from pedigrees in free-ranging baleen whales
Suárez-Menéndez, M., Bérubé, M., Furni, F., Rivera-León, V. E., Heide-Jørgensen, M.-P., Larsen, F., Sears, R., Ramp, C., Eriksson, B. K., Etienne, R. S., Robbins, J. & Palsbøll, P. J., 7-Oct-2022, BioRxiv, 44 p.
Research output: Working paper › Preprint › Academic

File
90 Downloads (Pure)

Wild pedigrees inform mutation rates and historic abundance in baleen whales
Suarez Menendez, M. (Creator), Bérubé, M. (Creator), Garcia Furni, F. (Creator), Rivera Leon, V. E. (Creator), Heide-Jørgensen, M. P. (Creator), Larsen, F. (Creator), Sears, R. (Creator), Ramp, C. (Creator), Eriksson, B. K. (Creator), Etienne, R. (Creator), Robbins, J. (Creator) & Palsbøll, P. (Creator), DRYAD, 31-Aug-2023
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.9kd51c5pq, https://zenodo.org/records/8306163
Dataset

Mutation rates in whales found to be much higher than previously reported
Palsboll, P., Bérubé, M., Suarez Menendez, M., Furni, F., Rivera Leon, V. E., Eriksson, B. K. & Etienne, R.
31/08/2023 → 01/09/2023
9 items of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research › Academic

1 Finished
1 Active

AL: Adaptive Life
Etienne, R. (Coordinator), Kas, M. (Coordinator), Olff, H. (Coordinator), Weissing, F. (Coordinator) & Groothuis, T. (Coordinator)
01/01/2016 → 01/01/2026
Project: Research
AL-III: Ecosystem iron retention and recycling in the pelagic phase via top predators
Palsboll, P. (PI), Eriksson, B. K. (PI), Etienne, R. (PI) & Suarez Menendez, M. (PhD student)
01/09/2020 → 01/09/2024
Project: Research

Cite this

@article{d806948f097c44858eebd9c66711de32,

title = "Wild pedigrees inform mutation rates and historic abundance in baleen whales",

abstract = "Phylogeny-based estimates suggesting a low germline mutation rate (μ) in baleen whales have influenced research ranging from assessments of whaling impacts to evolutionary cancer biology. We estimated μ directly from pedigrees in four baleen whale species for both the mitochondrial control region and nuclear genome. The results suggest values higher than those obtained through phylogeny-based estimates and similar to pedigree-based values for primates and toothed whales. Applying our estimate of μ reduces previous genetic-based estimates of preexploitation whale abundance by 86% and suggests that μ cannot explain low cancer rates in gigantic mammals. Our study shows that it is feasible to estimate μ directly from pedigrees in natural populations, with wide-ranging implications for ecological and evolutionary research.",

author = "Marcos Su{\'a}rez-Men{\'e}ndez and Martine B{\'e}rub{\'e} and Fabr{\'i}cio Furni and Rivera-Le{\'o}n, {Vania E} and Mads-Peter Heide-J{\o}rgensen and Finn Larsen and Richard Sears and Christian Ramp and Eriksson, {Britas Klemens} and Etienne, {Rampal S} and Jooke Robbins and Palsb{\o}ll, {Per J}",

year = "2023",

month = aug,

day = "31",

doi = "10.1126/science.adf2160",

language = "English",

volume = "381",

pages = "990--995",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE",

number = "6661",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Wild pedigrees inform mutation rates and historic abundance in baleen whales

AU - Suárez-Menéndez, Marcos

AU - Bérubé, Martine

AU - Furni, Fabrício

AU - Rivera-León, Vania E

AU - Heide-Jørgensen, Mads-Peter

AU - Larsen, Finn

AU - Sears, Richard

AU - Ramp, Christian

AU - Eriksson, Britas Klemens

AU - Etienne, Rampal S

AU - Robbins, Jooke

AU - Palsbøll, Per J

PY - 2023/8/31

Y1 - 2023/8/31

N2 - Phylogeny-based estimates suggesting a low germline mutation rate (μ) in baleen whales have influenced research ranging from assessments of whaling impacts to evolutionary cancer biology. We estimated μ directly from pedigrees in four baleen whale species for both the mitochondrial control region and nuclear genome. The results suggest values higher than those obtained through phylogeny-based estimates and similar to pedigree-based values for primates and toothed whales. Applying our estimate of μ reduces previous genetic-based estimates of preexploitation whale abundance by 86% and suggests that μ cannot explain low cancer rates in gigantic mammals. Our study shows that it is feasible to estimate μ directly from pedigrees in natural populations, with wide-ranging implications for ecological and evolutionary research.

AB - Phylogeny-based estimates suggesting a low germline mutation rate (μ) in baleen whales have influenced research ranging from assessments of whaling impacts to evolutionary cancer biology. We estimated μ directly from pedigrees in four baleen whale species for both the mitochondrial control region and nuclear genome. The results suggest values higher than those obtained through phylogeny-based estimates and similar to pedigree-based values for primates and toothed whales. Applying our estimate of μ reduces previous genetic-based estimates of preexploitation whale abundance by 86% and suggests that μ cannot explain low cancer rates in gigantic mammals. Our study shows that it is feasible to estimate μ directly from pedigrees in natural populations, with wide-ranging implications for ecological and evolutionary research.

U2 - 10.1126/science.adf2160

DO - 10.1126/science.adf2160

M3 - Article

C2 - 37651509

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 381

SP - 990

EP - 995

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6661

ER -

Wild pedigrees inform mutation rates and historic abundance in baleen whales

Abstract

Access to Document

Handle.net

Fingerprint

Research output

Direct estimation of genome mutation rates from pedigrees in free-ranging baleen whales

Datasets

Wild pedigrees inform mutation rates and historic abundance in baleen whales

Press/Media

Mutation rates in whales found to be much higher than previously reported

Projects

AL: Adaptive Life

AL-III: Ecosystem iron retention and recycling in the pelagic phase via top predators

Cite this