Limited Evidence for Selection at the FADS Locus in Native American Populations.

ABSTRACT: The FADS locus contains the genes FADS1 and FADS2 that encode enzymes involved in the synthesis of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. This locus appears to have been a repeated target of selection in human evolution, likely because dietary input of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids varied over time depending on environment and subsistence strategy. Several recent studies have identified selection at the FADS locus in Native American populations, interpreted as evidence for adaptation during or subsequent to the passage through Beringia. Here, we show that these signals are confounded by independent selection-postdating the split from Native Americans-in the European and, possibly, the East Asian populations used in the population branch statistic test. This is supported by direct

SUBMITTER: Mathieson I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7306688 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature