Differential strengths of positive selection revealed by hitchhiking effects at small physical scales in Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT: The long time scale of adaptive evolution makes it difficult to directly observe the spread of most beneficial mutations through natural populations. Therefore, inferring attributes of beneficial mutations by studying the genomic signals left by directional selection is an important component of population genetics research. One kind of signal is a trough in nearby neutral genetic variation due to selective fixation of initially rare alleles, a phenomenon known as "genetic hitchhiking." Accumulated evidence suggests that a considerable fraction of substitutions in the Drosophila genome results from positive selection, most of which are expected to have small selection coefficients and influence the population genetics of sites in the immediate vicinity. Using Drosophila melanogaster popula

SUBMITTER: Lee YC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4043186 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature