Neutral Evolution of Synonymous Base Composition in the Brassicaceae

The GC content of synonymous sites is elevated in genes from both Brassica oleraceae and Arabidopsis lyrata compared with Arabidopsis thaliana. However, this shift in base composition is independent of gene expression level, and there is no evidence for a similar difference in the frequency of codons preferred by translational selection. The results suggest that composition evolution is caused by a change in mutation bias or biased gene conversion, rather than by a reduction in the efficacy of natural selection in selfing Arabidopsis. [Reviewing Editor: Dr. Magrus Nordborg]