Increased mitochondrial mutation frequency after an island colonization: positive selection or accumulation of slightly deleterious mutations?

Island colonizations are excellent models for studying early processes of evolution. We found in a previous study on mice that had colonized the sub-Antarctic Kerguelen Archipelago about 200 years ago that they were derived from a single founder lineage and that this showed an unexpectedly large number of new mutations in the mitochondrial D-loop. To assess whether positive selection has played a role in the emergence of these variants, we have obtained 16 full mitochondrial genome sequences from these mice. For comparison, we have compiled 57 mitochondrial genome sequences from laboratory inbred lines that became established about 100 years ago, also starting from a single founder lineage. We find that the island mice and the laboratory lines show very similar mutation frequencies and patterns. None of the patterns in the Kerguelen mice provides evidence for positive selection. We conclude that nearly neutral evolutionary processes that assume the presence of slightly deleterious variants can fully explain the patterns. This supports the notion of time-dependency of molecular evolution and provides a new calibration point. Based on the observed mutation frequency, we calculate an average evolutionary rate of 0.23 substitutions per site per Myr for the earliest time frame of divergence, which is about six times higher than the long-term rate of 0.037 substitutions per site per Myr.