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Quantitative estimates of selection bias in bacterial mutation accumulation experiments
Mutation accumulation (MA) experiments play an important role in understanding evolution. For microbial populations, such experiments often involve periods of population growth, such that a single individual can make a visible colony, followed by severe bottlenecks. The present study aims to quantify the effect of positive and negative selection on MA experiments. The results demonstrate that selective effects can significantly bias the distribution of fitness effects (DFE) in MA experiments. A straightforward correction for this bias is proposed that can be used for both beneficial and deleterious mutations. This correction includes both genetic drift and realistic offspring distributions for microbes.