{
  "abstract": "Mutations provide the raw material for evolution, but mutation rates are not uniform across genomes. Using a mutation accumulation experiment in the marine phytoplankton Bigelowiella natans, we discovered extreme local variation in mutation rate: over 1000-fold differences across its nuclear genome. While the baseline single-nucleotide mutation rate is approximately 3.5×10⁻¹⁰ per site per generation, a common value for unicellular species, two genomic regions derived from integrated viruses exhibit strikingly elevated rates of about 6×10⁻⁷. These two regions show a distinctive mutational signature with almost exclusively T/A→C/G transitions, a pattern also found in other non-eukaryote derived sequences in B. natans, contrary to the usual GC to AT mutation bias. Notably, hypermutation occurs only on TpA dinucleotides, and only in a subset of experimental lines, suggesting a regulated process rather than random genomic instability. We propose that B. natans targets invading DNA through localized hypermutation, reminiscent of deamination-based antiviral defense systems in animals. This prompts the idea of genome editing as a recurring immune strategy in eukaryotes.e viral genome increases its mutation rate to the point that the virus loses infectivity.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Lisa Mettrop"
    },
    {
      "name": "Anna Lipzen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Gilles Mirambeau"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kerrie Barry"
    },
    {
      "name": "Igor Grigoriev"
    },
    {
      "name": "Gwenaël Piganeau"
    },
    {
      "name": "Marc Krasovec"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/93akzsqkhb5rs.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1073/pnas.2612999123",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "93akzsqkhb5rs",
  "issns": [
    "0027-8424",
    "1091-6490"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05748524v1",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
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      "1311|Evolution and Genetic Dynamics"
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  "openalex": "W7171538595",
  "pdf_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05748524/document",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-07-28",
  "publisher": "National Academy of Sciences",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/93akzsqkhb5rs.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:34Z",
      "native_id": "hal-05748524",
      "source": "hal",
      "url": "https://hal.science/hal-05748524v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "hal:2.sdv.bbm.gtp",
      "subfield": "proteomics-metabolomics"
    },
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "hal:1.sdv.bid",
      "subfield": "ecology"
    },
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "hal:2.sdv.bid.evo",
      "subfield": "evolutionary-biology"
    },
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "hal:1.sdv.mp",
      "subfield": "microbiology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Hypermutability of integrated sequences of viral origin in a Chlorarachniophyte",
  "title_text": "Hypermutability of integrated sequences of viral origin in a Chlorarachniophyte",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:34Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/93akzsqkhb5rs",
  "venue": "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",
  "versions": []
}