Searching for ancient balanced polymorphisms shared between Neanderthals and Modern Humans.

ABSTRACT: Hominin evolution is characterized by adaptive solutions often rooted in behavioral and cognitive changes. If balancing selection had an important and long-lasting impact on the evolution of these traits, it can be hypothesized that genes associated with them should carry an excess of shared polymorphisms (trans- SNPs) across recent Homo species. In this study, we investigate the role of balancing selection in human evolution using available exomes from modern (Homo sapiens) and archaic humans (H. neanderthalensis and Denisovan) for an excess of trans-SNP in two gene sets: one associated with the immune system (IMMS) and another one with behavioral system (BEHS). We identified a significant excess of trans-SNPs in IMMS (N=547), of which six of these located within genes previously associat

SUBMITTER: Viscardi LH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5901502 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan-Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature