Population-specific, recent positive directional selection suggests adaptation of human male reproductive genes to different environmental conditions.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Recent human transcriptomic analyses revealed a very large number of testis-enriched genes, many of which are involved in spermatogenesis. This comprehensive transcriptomic data lead us to the question whether positive selection was a decisive force influencing the evolution and variability of testis-enriched genes in humans. We used two methodological approaches to detect different levels of positive selection, namely episodic positive diversifying selection (i.e., past selection) in the human lineage within primate phylogeny, potentially driven by sperm competition, and recent positive directional selection in contemporary human populations, which would indicate adaptation to different environments.

Results

In the human lineage (after correction for multiple tes

SUBMITTER: Schaschl H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7020506 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature