Methods for Estimating Demography and Detecting Between-Locus Differences in the Effective Population Size and Mutation Rate.

ABSTRACT: It is known that the effective population size (Ne) and the mutation rate (u) vary across the genome. Here, we show that ignoring this heterogeneity may lead to biased estimates of past demography. To solve the problem, we develop new methods for jointly inferring past changes in population size and detecting variation in Ne and u between loci. These methods rely on either polymorphism data alone or both polymorphism and divergence data. In addition to inferring demography, we can use the methods to study a variety of questions: 1) comparing sex chromosomes with autosomes (for finding evidence for male-driven evolution, an unequal sex ratio, or sex-biased demographic changes) and 2) analyzing multilocus data from within autosomes or sex chromosomes (for studying determinants of variability

SUBMITTER: Zeng K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6409433 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature