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Clonal interference and the periodic selection of new beneficial mutations in Escherichia coli.

The conventional model of adaptation in asexual populations implies sequential fixation of new beneficial mutations via rare selective sweeps that purge all variation and preserve the clonal genotype. However, in large populations multiple beneficial mutations may co-occur, causing competition among them, a phenomenon called "clonal interference." Clonal interference is thus expected to lead to longer fixation times and larger fitness effects of mutations that ultimately become fixed, as well as to a genetically more diverse population. Here, we study the significance of clonal interference in populations consisting of mixtures of differently marked wild-type and mutator strains of Escherichia coli that adapt to a minimal-glucose environment for 400 generations. We monitored marker frequencies during evolution and measured the competitive fitness of random clones from each marker state after evolution. The results demonstrate the presence of multiple beneficial mutations in these populations and slower and more erratic invasion of mutants than expected by the conventional model, showing the signature of clonal interference. We found that a consequence of clonal interference is that fitness estimates derived from invasion trajectories were less than half the magnitude of direct estimates from competition experiments, thus revealing fundamental problems with this fitness measure. These results force a reevaluation of the conventional model of periodic selection for asexual microbes.

Cloning, Molecular↗

Genetic evidence for unequal effective population sizes of human females and males.

The time to the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) of the human mitochondria (mtDNA) is estimated to be older than that of the nonrecombining portion of the Y chromosome (NRY). Surveys of variation in globally distributed humans typically result in mtDNA TMRCA values just under 200 thousand years ago (kya), whereas those for the NRY range between 46 and 110 kya. A favored hypothesis for this finding is that natural selection has acted on the NRY, leading to a recent selective sweep. An alternate hypothesis is that sex-biased demographic processes are responsible. Here, we re-examine the disparity between NRY and mtDNA TMRCAs using data collected from individual human populations--a sampling strategy that minimizes the confounding influence of population subdivision in global data sets. We survey variation at 782 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 3 gene as well as at 26.5 kb of noncoding DNA from the NRY in a sample of 25 Khoisan, 24 Mongolians, and 24 Papua New Guineans. Data from both loci in all populations are best described by a model of constant population size, with the exception of Mongolian mtDNA, which appears to be experiencing rapid population growth. Taking these demographic models into account, we estimate the TMRCAs for each locus in each population. A pattern that is remarkably consistent across all three populations is an approximately twofold deeper coalescence for mtDNA than for the NRY. The oldest TMRCAs are observed for the Khoisan (73.6 kya for the NRY and 176.5 kya for mtDNA), whereas those in the non-African populations are consistently lower (averaging 47.7 kya for the NRY and 92.8 kya for mtDNA). Our data do not suggest that differential natural selection is the cause of this difference in TMRCAs. Rather, these results are most consistent with a higher female effective population size.

Base Sequence↗

A scan for linkage disequilibrium across the human genome.

Linkage disequilibrium (LD), the tendency for alleles of linked loci to co-occur nonrandomly on chromosomal haplotypes, is an increasingly useful phenomenon for (1) revealing historic perturbation of populations including founder effects, admixture, or incomplete selective sweeps; (2) estimating elapsed time since such events based on time-dependent decay of LD; and (3) disease and phenotype mapping, particularly for traits not amenable to traditional pedigree analysis. Because few descriptions of LD for most regions of the human genome exist, we searched the human genome for the amount and extent of LD among 5048 autosomal short tandem repeat polymorphism (STRP) loci ascertained as specific haplotypes in the European CEPH mapping families. Evidence is presented indicating that approximately 4% of STRP loci separated by <4.0 cM are in LD. The fraction of locus pairs within these intervals that display small Fisher's exact test (FET) probabilities is directly proportional to the inverse of recombination distance between them (1/cM). The distribution of LD is nonuniform on a chromosomal scale and in a marker density-independent fashion, with chromosomes 2, 15, and 18 being significantly different from the genome average. Furthermore, a stepwise (locus-by-locus) 5-cM sliding-window analysis across 22 autosomes revealed nine genomic regions (2.2-6.4 cM), where the frequency of small FET probabilities among loci was greater than or equal to that presented by the HLA on chromosome 6, a region known to have extensive LD. Although the spatial heterogeneity of LD we detect in Europeans is consistent with the operation of natural selection, absence of a formal test for such genomic scale data prevents eliminating neutral processes as the evolutionary origin of the LD.

Alleles↗

A reanalysis of protein polymorphism in Drosophila melanogaster, D. simulans, D. sechellia and D. mauritiana: effects of population size and selection.

Comparison of synonymous and nonsynonymous variation/substitution within and between species at individual genes has become a widely used general approach to detect the effect of selection versus drift. The sibling species group comprised of two cosmopolitan (Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans) and two island (Drosophila mauritiana and Drosophila sechellia) species has become a model system for such studies. In the present study we reanalyzed the pattern of protein variation in these species, and the results were compared against the patterns of nucleotide variation obtained from the literature, mostly available for melanogaster and simulans. We have mainly focused on the contrasting patterns of variation between the cosmopolitan pair. The results can be summarized as follows: (1) As expected the island species D. mauritiana and D. sechellia showed much less variation than the cosmopolitan species D. melanogaster and D. simulans. (2) The chromosome 2 showed significantly less variation than chromosome 3 and X in all four species which may indicate effects of past selective sweeps. (3) In contrast to its overall low variation, D. mauritiana showed highest variation for X-linked loci which may indicate introgression from its sibling, D. simulans. (4) An average population of D. simulans was as heterozygous as that of D. melanogaster (14.4% v.s. 13.9%) but the difference was large and significant when considering only polymorphic loci (37.2% v.s. 26.1%). (5) The species-wise pooled populations of these two species showed similar results (all loci = 18.3% v.s. 20.0%, polymorphic loci = 47.2% v.s. 37.6%). (6) An average population of D. simulans had more low-frequency alleles than D. melanogaster, and the D. simulans alleles were found widely distributed in all populations whereas the D. melanogaster alleles were limited to local populations. As a results of this, pooled populations of D. melanogaster showed more polymorphic loci than those of D. simulans (48.0% v.s. 32.0%) but the difference was reduced when the comparison was made on the basis of an average population (29.1% v.s. 21.4%). (7) While the allele frequency distributions within populations were nonsignificant in both D. melanogaster and D. simulans, melanogaster had fewer than simulans, but more than expected from the neutral theory, low frequency alleles. (8) Diallelic loci with the second allele with a frequency less than 20% had similar frequencies in all four species but those with the second allele with a frequency higher than 20% were limited to only melanogaster the latter group of loci have clinal (latitudinal) patterns of variation indicative of balancing selection. (9) The comparison of D. simulans/D. melanogaster protein variation gave a ratio of 1.04 for all loci and 1.42 for polymorphic loci, against a ratio of approximately 2-fold difference for silent nucleotide sites. This suggests that the species ratios of protein and silent nucleotide polymorphism are too close to call for selective difference between silent and allozyme variation in D. simulans. In conclusion, the contrasting levels of allozyme polymorphism, distribution of rare alleles, number of diallelic loci and the patterns of geographic differentiation between the two species suggest the role of natural selection in D. melanogaster, and of possibly ancient population structure and recent worldwide migration in D. simulans. Population size differences alone are insufficient as an explanation for the patterns of variation between these two species.

Alleles↗

Genomic insights into the population history of fat-tailed sheep and identification of two mutations that contribute to fat tail adipogenesis.

INTRODUCTION: Since their domestication, domestic sheep (Ovis aries) have been culturally and economically significant farming animals worldwide. Fat-tailed sheep serve as a unique genetic resource for understanding adipogenesis and adaptive evolution in livestock. OBJECTIVES: Several genomic analyses have been conducted on various sheep breeds to elucidate the genome and regulation mechanism of the fat tail trait, prior genomic studies have failed to reconcile conflicting evidence about the genetic basis of tail morphology, particularly regarding the roles of PDGFD and BMP2. METHODS: Here, we conducted whole-genome resequencing of 283 sheep, encompassing 66 domestic breeds and 5 wild ovine species, to investigate the domestication history and selection signatures of fat-tailed sheep. Additionally, we performed transcriptome sequencing on adipose tissue to identify differentially expressed genes and cellular assays to validate these results. RESULTS: Demographic analysis revealed that domestic sheep descended from Asiatic mouflon and fat-tailed sheep began to diverge from thin-tailed sheep approximately 4.4-7.5 thousand years ago in East Asia. Chinese indigenous sheep were classified into Mongolian, Kazakh, Tibetan, and Yunnan populations. The Yunnan population may have experienced more recent genetic introgression from wild species, rather than an independent domestication event. Moreover, many potential regions associated with the fat-tailed phenotype (DDI1, PDGFD, and BMP2) were identified by selective sweep and genome-wide association analyses. Additionally, a fine-scale analysis of fat-tailed and thin-tailed sheep revealed two novel mutations: a G/A missense variant of PDGFD (Chr15: 3900312) and a C/T missense variant of BMP2 (Chr13: 48462350), both of which were significantly associated with tail adiposity. Functional validation demonstrated that mutant A-PDGFD significantly activated PFGFD expression and reduced fat deposition compared to wildtype. The C-BMP2 mutant activated BMP2 expression and promoted preadipocyte fat deposition. CONCLUSION: Our study provides the first evidence that these genes jointly regulate fat tail development through complementary mechanisms: PDGFD promotes adipose expansion, whereas BMP2 modulates energy partitioning. These findings offer new insights into the evolutionary history of fat-tailed sheep and identify potential targets for precision breeding in small ruminants.

Animals↗

A genetic variation map for chicken with 2.8 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms.

We describe a genetic variation map for the chicken genome containing 2.8 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). This map is based on a comparison of the sequences of three domestic chicken breeds (a broiler, a layer and a Chinese silkie) with that of their wild ancestor, red jungle fowl. Subsequent experiments indicate that at least 90% of the variant sites are true SNPs, and at least 70% are common SNPs that segregate in many domestic breeds. Mean nucleotide diversity is about five SNPs per kilobase for almost every possible comparison between red jungle fowl and domestic lines, between two different domestic lines, and within domestic lines--in contrast to the notion that domestic animals are highly inbred relative to their wild ancestors. In fact, most of the SNPs originated before domestication, and there is little evidence of selective sweeps for adaptive alleles on length scales greater than 100 kilobases.

Alleles↗

Mitochondrial mutations may drive Y chromosome evolution.

The human Y chromosome contains very low levels of nucleotide variation. It has been variously hypothesized that this invariance reflects historic reductions in the human male population, a very recent common ancestry, a slow rate of molecular evolution, an inability to evolve adaptively, or frequent selective sweeps acting on genes borne on the Y chromosome. We propose an alternative theory in which human Y chromosome evolution is driven by mutations in the maternally inherited mitochondrial genome, which impair male fertility and ultimately lead to a reduction in the effective population size (N(e)) and consequently the variability of the Y chromosome.

Animals↗

Parallel thalamocortical pathways for echolocation and passive sound localization in a gleaning bat, Antrozous pallidus.

We present evidence for parallel auditory thalamocortical pathways that serve two different behaviors. The pallid bat listens for prey-generated noise (5-35 kHz) to localize prey, while reserving echolocation [downward frequency-modulated (FM) sweeps, 60-30 kHz] for obstacle avoidance. Its auditory cortex contains a tonotopic map representing frequencies from 6 to 70 kHz. The high-frequency (BF > 30 kHz) representation is dominated by FM sweep-selective neurons, whereas most neurons tuned to lower frequencies prefer noise. Retrograde tracer injections into these physiologically distinct cortical regions revealed that the high-frequency region receives input from the suprageniculate (SG) nucleus, but not the ventral division of the medial geniculate body (MGBv), in all experiments (n = 9). In contrast, the low-frequency region receives tonotopically organized input from the MGBv in all experiments (n = 16). Labeling in the SG was observed in only two of these experiments. Both cortical regions also receive sparse inputs from medial (MGBm) and parts of the dorsal division (MGBd) outside the SG. These results show that the low- and high-frequency regions of a single tonotopic map receive dominant inputs from different thalamic divisions. Within the low-frequency region, most neurons are binaurally inhibited, and an orderly map of interaural intensity difference (IID) sensitivity is present. We show that the input to the IID map arises from topographically organized projections from the MGBv. As observed in other species, a frequency-dependent organization is observed in the lateromedial direction in the MGBv. These data demonstrate that MGBv-to-auditory cortex connections are organized with respect to both frequency and binaural selectivity.

Action Potentials↗

Regions of low single-nucleotide polymorphism incidence in human and orangutan xq: deserts and recent coalescences.

While scanning for single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the human Xq25-q28 region of CEPH families, we found six long "deserts" of low SNP incidence representing 28% of the investigated genome. One was 1.66 Mb in length. To determine whether these SNP deserts were due to reduced input of mutations or to recent coalescent events such as bottlenecks or selective sweeps, comparative sequence was determined from a female orangutan. The mean divergence was 2.9% and was not reduced in deserts compared with nondesert regions. Thus, the best explanation for the SNP deserts is recent coalescent events in humans. These events are the cause of substantial variation in human noncoding SNP incidence. In addition, the mutational spectrum in humans and orangutans was estimated as 63% AG (and CT), 17% AC (and GT), 8% CG, 4% AT, and 8% insertion/deletions. The average lifetime of a SNP destined to become fixed for a new allele between these species was estimated as 284,000 years.

Alleles↗

Population genetics of Y-chromosome short tandem repeats in humans.

Eight human short tandem repeat polymorphisms (STRs) also known as microsatellites-DYS19, DYS388, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS389I, and DYS389II, mapping in the Y chromosome-were analyzed in two Iberian samples (Basques and Catalans). Allele frequency distributions showed significant differences only for DYS392. Fst and gene diversity index (D) were estimated for the Y STRs. The values obtained are comparable to those of autosomal STR if corrections for the smaller effective population size on the Y chromosome are taken into account. This suggests that Y-chromosome microsatellites might be as useful as their autosomal counterparts to both human population genetics and forensics. Our results also reinforce the hypothesis that selective sweeps in the Y chromosome in recent times are unlikely. Haplotypes combining five of the loci were constructed for 71 individuals, showing 29 different haplotypes. A haplotype tree was constructed, from which an estimate of 7,000 to 60,000 years for the age of the Y-chromosome variation in Iberia was derived, in accordance with previous estimates obtained with mtDNA sequences and nuclear markers.

Animals↗

Robust simple sequence repeat markers for spruce (Picea spp.) from expressed sequence tags.

Traditionally, simple sequence repeat (SSR)markers have been developed from libraries of genomic DNA. However, the large, repetitive nature of conifer genomes makes development of robust, single-copy SSR markers from genomic DNA difficult. Expressed sequence tags (ESTs), or sequences of messenger RNA, offer the opportunity to exploit single, low-copy, conserved sequence motifs for SSR development. From a 20,275-unigene spruce EST set, we identified 44 candidate EST-SSR markers. Of these, 25 amplified and were polymorphic in white, Sitka, and black spruce; 20 amplified in all 3 spruce species tested; the remaining five amplified in all except one species. In addition, 101 previously described spruce SSRs (mostly developed from genomic DNA), were tested. Of these, 17 amplified across white,Sitka, and black spruce. The 25 EST-SSRs had approximately 9% less heterozygosity than the 17 genomic-derived SSRs (mean H=0.65 vs 0.72), but appeared to have less null alleles, as evidenced by much lower apparent inbreeding (mean F=0.046 vs 0.126). These robust SSRs are of particular use in comparative studies,and as the EST-SSRs are within the expressed portion of the genome, they are more likely to be associated with a particular gene of interest, improving their utility for quantitative trait loci mapping and allowing detection of selective sweeps at specific genes.

Base Sequence↗

Source and component genes of a 6-200 Mb gene cluster in the house mouse.

We identified and analyzed the genes Sp100, Csprs, and Ifi75 in two members of the genus Mus, M. musculus and M. caroli. Sp100 is a nuclear dot gene; Csprs and Ifi75 are novel genes encoding a putative G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) and a putative transcriptional coactivator, respectively. A fourth gene, Sp100-rs, occurs in M. musculus, but not in M. caroli. Sp100-rs is a chimeric gene which arose by fusion of Sp100 and Csprs copies. Sp100-rs and Ifi75 are components of a repeat cluster that extends over 6-200 Mb of the M. musculus genome. The Sp100-rs fusion gene arose only 1-2 million years ago and has become fixed and amplified in M. musculus. Although the gene is transcribed, it appears to have no function. The repeat cluster may have become fixed in the species as a 'hitchhiker' in a 'selective sweep'.

Animals↗

Evidence for introgression in differentiated North-American and Finnish Drosophila montana populations.

The virilis group species Drosophila montana is widely distributed around the northern hemisphere. Here we show that it consists of at least two well differentiated populations (Finnish and North-American populations) that have been diverging for the last 0.55-0.95 My. These populations show significant chromosomal, behavioural and morphological differences, but no apparent postzygotic isolation. Evidence for introgression is found for both Finnish and North-American populations at two out of the three X-linked genes (fused, elav and su(s)) studied here. In the light of these findings, previously reported evidence for selective sweeps in D. montana populations is re-evaluated.

Alaska↗

Genome-wide investigation on the genetic variations of rice disease resistance genes.

Exploitation of plant disease resistance (R) gene in breeding programs has been proven to be the most efficient strategy for coping with the threat of pathogens. An understanding of R-gene variation is the basis for this strategy. Here we report a genome-wide investigation on the variation of NBS-LRR-encoding genes, the common type of R genes, between two sequenced rice genomes, Oryza sativa L. var. Nipponbare and 93-11. We show that the allelic nucleotide diversity in 65.0% of 397 least-divergent pairs is not high (0.344% on average), while the remaining 35% display a greater diversity (5.4% on average). The majority of conserved R genes is single-copy and/or located as a singleton. The clustered, particularly the complex-clustered, R-genes contribute greatly to the rich genetic variation. Surprisingly only 11.2% of R-genes have remarkably high ratios of non-synonymous to synonymous rates, which is much less than the 17.4% observed between Arabidopsis genomes. Noticeable "artificially selective sweeping" could be detected in a large proportion of the conserved R-genes, a scenario described in the "arms race" co-evolutionary model. Based on our study, a variation pattern of R-genes is proposed and confirmed by the analysis of R-genes from other rice lines, indicating that the observed variation pattern may be common in all rice lines.

Genes, Plant↗

Timing pulse and sampling programs implemented on a laboratory microcomputer.

This paper presents two programs implemented on a microcomputer for analog-to-digital (A-to-D) conversion of neurophysiological signals. The first program, TIMET, sets flexible pulse trains for the timing of the A-to-D conversions, executed by the second program, ADC8. TIMET contains options for a continuous or a triggered pulse train with variable onset delay. ADC8 allows sampling up to 30 kHz for one channel and 9 kHz for the maximum of 7 channels, with about 8 microseconds lag between channels. The digitized data are displayed with interactive gain control from keyboard input, and selected sweeps can be stored on disk files.

Animals↗

Genomics refutes an exclusively African origin of humans.

Ten years ago, evidence from genetics gave strong support to the "recent African origin" view of the evolution of modern humans, which posits that Homo sapiens arose as a new species in Africa and subsequently spread, leading to the extinction of other archaic human species. Subsequent data from the nuclear genome not only fail to support this model, they do not support any simple model of human demographic history. In this paper, we study a process in which the modern human phenotype originates in Africa and then advances across the world by local demic diffusion, hybridization, and natural selection. While the multiregional model of human origins posits a number of independent single locus selective sweeps, and the "out of Africa" model posits a sweep of a new species, we study the intermediate case of a phenotypic sweep. Numerical simulations of this process replicate many of the seemingly contradictory features of the genetic data, and suggest that as much as 80% of nuclear loci have assimilated genetic material from non-African archaic humans.

Africa↗

The evolutionary dynamics of self-incompatibility systems.

Self-incompatible flowering plants reject pollen that expresses the same mating specificity as the pistil (female reproductive tract). In most plant families, pollen and pistil mating specificities segregate as a single locus, the S locus. In at least two self-incompatibility systems, distinct pollen and pistil specificity genes are embedded in an extensive nonrecombining tract. To facilitate consideration of how new S locus specificities arise in systems with distinct pollen and pistil genes, we present a graphical model for the generation of hypotheses. It incorporates the evolutionary principle that nonreciprocal siring success (cross-pollinations between two plants produce seeds in only one direction) tends to favor the rejecting partner. This model suggests that selection within S-allele specificity classes could accelerate the rate of nonsynonymous (amino acid-changing) substitutions, with periodic selective sweeps removing segregating variation within classes. Accelerated substitution within specificity classes could also promote the origin of new S-allele specificities.

Alleles↗

The global genetic structure of the wheat pathogen Mycosphaerella graminicola is characterized by high nuclear diversity, low mitochondrial diversity, regular recombination, and gene flow.

A total of 1673 Mycosphaerella graminicola strains were assayed for DNA fingerprints and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers in the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. The isolates were collected from 17 wheat fields located in 11 countries on five continents over a six year period (1989-1995). Our results indicate that genetic diversity in the nuclear genome of this fungus was high for all but three of the field populations surveyed and that populations sampled from different continents had similar frequencies for the most common RFLP alleles. Hierarchical analysis revealed that more than 90% of global gene diversity was distributed within a wheat field, while approximately 5% of gene diversity was distributed among fields within regions and approximately 3% was distributed among regions on different continents. These findings suggest that gene flow has occurred on a global scale. On average, each leaf was colonized by a different nuclear genotype. In contrast, only seven mtDNA haplotypes were detected among the 1673 isolates and the two most common mtDNA haplotypes represented approximately 93% of the world population, consistent with a selective sweep. Analysis of multilocus associations indicated that all field populations were in gametic equilibrium, suggesting that sexual recombination is a regular occurrence globally.

Ascomycota↗