Inferring species divergence times using pairwise sequential Markovian coalescent modelling and low-coverage genomic data.

ABSTRACT: Understanding when species diverged aids in identifying the drivers of speciation, but the end of gene flow between populations can be difficult to ascertain from genetic data. We explore the use of pairwise sequential Markovian coalescent (PSMC) modelling to infer the timing of divergence between species and populations. PSMC plots generated using artificial hybrid genomes show rapid increases in effective population size at the time when the two parent lineages diverge, and this approach has been used previously to infer divergence between human lineages. We show that, even without high coverage or phased input data, PSMC can detect the end of significant gene flow between populations by comparing the PSMC output from artificial hybrids to the output of simulations with known demographic

SUBMITTER: Cahill JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4920339 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature