Abstract
The results from a simulation model of selection, mutation and genetic drift in a geographically subdivided population are presented. The infinite-alleles mutation model of Kimura and Crow (1964) is asumed, and both advantageous and deleterious mutations are considered. It is shown that the average frequency of an allele conditioned on the number of local populations it appears in—the conditional average frequency—is approximately independent of both the selection intensity and mutation rates assumed, but depends strongly on the overall level of gene flow. This result justifies the use of the conditional average frequency to obtain a rough estimate of the level of gene flow in a subdivided population. Data from 16 species are presented and discussed. There are large differences in the conditional average frequencies of different species, although there is some consistency within taxa. Some species apparently have high levels of gene flow and others, particularly salamanders, have low levels. Alternative explanations for the patterns found in the data are considered.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (739.7 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Ayala F. J., Tracey M. L., Barr L. G., McDonald J. F., Pérez-Salas S. Genetic variation in natural populations of five Drosophila species and the hypothesis of the selective neutrality of protein polymorphisms. Genetics. 1974 Jun;77(2):343–384. doi: 10.1093/genetics/77.2.343. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Nei M., Li W. H. Probability of identical monomorphism in related species. Genet Res. 1975 Aug;26(1):31–43. doi: 10.1017/s0016672300015822. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Singh R. S. Genic heterogeneity within electrophoretic "alleles" and the pattern of variation among loci in Drosophila pseudoobscura. Genetics. 1979 Dec;93(4):997–1018. doi: 10.1093/genetics/93.4.997. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Slatkin M. The distribution of mutant alleles in a subdivided population. Genetics. 1980 Jun;95(2):503–524. doi: 10.1093/genetics/95.2.503. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]