Short Review Estimation of spontaneous genome-wide mutation rate parameters: whither beneficial mutations?

Empirical estimates of genome-wide mutation rates and of the distribution of mutational eects are needed to illuminate various topics ranging from evolutionary biology to conser-vation. Methods for inferring genome-wide mutation param-eters are presented, and results stemming from these studies are reviewed. It is argued that, although most if not all mutations detected in mutation accumulation experiments are deleterious, the question of the rate of favourable mutations (and their eects) is still a matter for debate