Contribution of spontaneous mutations to quantitative and molecular variation at the highly repetitive rDNA locus in yeast

The ribosomal DNA array in Saccharomyces cerevisiae consists of many tandem repeats whose copy number is believed to be functionally important but highly labile. Regulatory mechanisms have evolved to maintain copy number by directed mutation, but how spontaneous variation at this locus is generated and selected has not been well characterized. We applied a mutation accumulation approach to quantify the impacts of mutation and selection on this unique genomic feature across hundreds of mutant strains. We find that mutational variance for this trait is relatively high, and that un-selected mutations throughout the genome can disrupt copy number maintenance. In consequence, copy number generally declines, consistent with a model of regulation where copy number is normally increased when low. This pattern holds across ploidy levels and strains in the standard lab environment, but differs under some stressful conditions. We identify several alleles, gene categories and genomic features that likely affect copy number, including aneuploidy for chromosome XII. Copy number change is associated with reduced growth in diploids, consistent with stabilizing selection. Levels of standing variation in copy number are well predicted by a balance between mutation and stabilizing selection, suggesting this trait is not subject to strong diversifying selection in the wild. The rate and spectrum of point mutations within the rDNA locus itself is distinct from the rest of the genome, and predictive of polymorphism locations. Our findings help differentiate the roles of mutation and selection and indicate that spontaneous mutation patterns shape several aspects of ribosomal DNA evolution.