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Science 24 January 2003:
Vol. 299. no. 5606, pp. 555 - 558
DOI: 10.1126/science.1078417
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Reports

An Evolutionary Advantage of Haploidy in Large Yeast Populations

Clifford Zeyl,* Thomas Vanderford,dagger Michele Carterddagger

Although seed plants and multicellular animals are predominantly diploid, the prominence of diploidy varies greatly among eukaryote life cycles, and no general evolutionary advantage of diploidy has been demonstrated. By doubling the copy number of each gene, diploidy may increase the rate at which adaptive mutations are produced. However, models suggest that this does not necessarily accelerate adaptation by diploid populations. We tested model predictions regarding rates of adaptation using asexual yeast populations. Adaptive mutations were on average partially recessive. As predicted, diploidy slowed adaptation by large populations but not by small populations.

Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: zeylcw{at}wfu.edu

dagger    Present address: Population Biology, Ecology and Evolution Program, Emory University, Yerkes Primate Research Center, 954 Gatewood Drive, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA.

ddagger    Present address: Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115-6018, USA.

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