A coalescent sampler successfully detects biologically meaningful population structure overlooked by F-statistics.

ABSTRACT: Assessing the geographic structure of populations has relied heavily on Sewell Wright's F-statistics and their numerous analogues for many decades. However, it is well appreciated that, due to their nonlinear relationship with gene flow, F-statistics frequently fail to reject the null model of panmixia in species with relatively high levels of gene flow and large population sizes. Coalescent genealogy samplers instead allow a model-selection approach to the characterization of population structure, thereby providing the opportunity for stronger inference. Here, we validate the use of coalescent samplers in a high gene flow context using simulations of a stepping-stone model. In an example case study, we then re-analyze genetic datasets from 41 marine species sampled from throughout the Haw

SUBMITTER: Crandall ED 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6346657 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature