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Number of germ-line cell divisions per generation

Value	9 divisions/generation Range: Table - link divisions/generation
Organism	Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans
Reference	Lynch M. et al., A genome-wide view of the spectrum of spontaneous mutations in yeast. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Jul 8 105(27):9272-7. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0803466105. p.9276 left column 2nd paragraph and note under table 3PubMed ID18583475
Primary Source	Wilkins AS. Genetic Analysis of Animal Development. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley–Liss 1992.
Comments	p.9276 left column 2nd paragraph:"Clearly, the evolution of multicellularity was not accompanied by a reduction in the mutation rate, even on a per-cell-division basis, and because the number of germ-line cell divisions is ˜9 in nematodes, 36 in flies, and 200 in humans, the per-generation rates of mutation in these organisms is one to nearly three orders of magnitude greater than that in yeast, depending on the nature of the genetic material." Note under table 3:"C. elegans: mutation rate estimates (refs 5–7, 23): assumes 8.5 germ-line cell divisions per generation (primary source)." See Drake 1998 PMID 9560386 p.1672 right column 4th paragraph: "There are about 8.2 cell divisions ancestral to sperm and about 10.0 ancestral to eggs"
Entered by	Uri M
ID	105572