Detecting natural selection by empirical comparison to random regions of the genome.

ABSTRACT: Historical episodes of natural selection can skew the frequencies of genetic variants, leaving a signature that can persist for many tens or even hundreds of thousands of years. However, formal tests for selection based on allele frequency skew require strong assumptions about demographic history and mutation, which are rarely well understood. Here, we develop an empirical approach to test for signals of selection that compares patterns of genetic variation at a candidate locus with matched random regions of the genome collected in the same way. We apply this approach to four genes that have been implicated in syndromes of impaired neurological development, comparing the pattern of variation in our re-sequencing data with a large-scale, genomic data set that provides an empirical null dist

SUBMITTER: Yu F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2778377 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature