High nucleotide polymorphism and rapid decay of linkage disequilibrium in wild populations of Caenorhabditis remanei.

ABSTRACT: The common ancestor of the self-fertilizing nematodes Caenorhabditis elegans and C. briggsae must have reproduced by obligate outcrossing, like most species in this genus. However, we have only a limited understanding about how genetic variation is patterned in such male-female (gonochoristic) Caenorhabditis species. Here, we report results from surveying nucleotide variation of six nuclear loci in a broad geographic sample of wild isolates of the gonochoristic C. remanei. We find high levels of diversity in this species, with silent-site diversity averaging 4.7%, implying an effective population size close to 1 million. Additionally, the pattern of polymorphisms reveals little evidence for population structure or deviation from neutral expectations, suggesting that the sampled C. remanei

SUBMITTER: Cutter AD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1602088 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature