scholarly journals GENETIC VARIATION IN NATURAL POPULATIONS OF FIVE DROSOPHILA SPECIES AND THE HYPOTHESIS OF THE SELECTIVE NEUTRALITY OF PROTEIN POLYMORPHISMS

Genetics ◽  
1974 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-384
Author(s):  
Francisco J Ayala ◽  
Martin L Tracey ◽  
Lorraine G Barr ◽  
John F McDonald ◽  
Santiago Pérez-Salas

ABSTRACT We have studied genetic variation at 30-32 loci coding for enzymes in natural populations of five species of Drosophila. The average proportion of heterozygous loci per individual is 17.7 ± 0.4%. The average proportion of polymorphic loci per population is 69.2 ± 2.6% or 49.8 ± 2.2%, depending on what criterion of polymorphism is used. The following generalizations are advanced: (1) The amount of genetic polymorphism varies considerably from locus to locus. (2) At a given locus, populations of the same species are very similar in the amount and pattern of genetic variation. (3) However, at some loci large differences sometimes occur between local populations of the same species. (4) The amount of variation at a given locus is approximately the same in all five species. (5) When different species are compared, the pattern of the variation is either essentially identical or totally different at a majority of loci. We have tested the hypothesis that protein polymorphisms are selectively neutral by examining four predictions derived from the hypothesis. Our results are at variance with every one of the predictions. We have measured the amount of genetic differentiation, D, between taxa of various degrees of evolutionary divergence. The average value of D is 0.033 for local populations, 0.228 for subspecies, 0.226 for semispecies, 0.538 for sibling species, and 1.214 for morphologically distinguishable species. Our results indicate that a substantial degree of genetic differentiation (22.8 allelic substitutions for every 100 loci) occurs between allopatric populations that have diverged to the point where they might become different species if they were to become sympatric. However, very little additional genetic change is required for the development of complete reproductive isolation. After the speciation process is completed, species continue to diverge genetically from each other.

Genetics ◽  
1975 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 785-805
Author(s):  
P T Spieth

ABSTRACT Electrophoretically detectable variation in the fungus Neurospora intermedia has been surveyed among isolates from natural populations in Malaya, Papua, Australia and Florida. The principal result is a pattern of genetic variation within and between populations that is qualitatively no different than the well documented patterns for Drosophila and humans. In particular, there is a high level of genetic variation, the majority of which occurs at the level of local populations. Evidence is presented which argues that N. intermedia has a population structure analogous to that of an annual vascular plant with a high level of vegetative reproduction. Sexual reproduction appears to be a regular feature in the biology of the species. Substantial heterokaryon function seems unlikely in natural populations of N. intermedia. Theoretical considerations concerning the mechanisms underlying the observed pattern of variation most likely should be consistent with haploid selection theory. The implications of this constraint upon the theory are discussed in detail, leading to the presentation of a model based upon the concept of environmental heterogeneity. The essence of the model, which is equally applicable to haploid and diploid situations, is a shifting distribution of multiple adaptive niches among local populations such that a given population has a small net selective pressure in favor of one allele or another, depending upon its particular distribution of niches. Gene flow among neighboring populations with differing net selective pressures is postulated as the principal factor underlying intrapopulational allozyme variation.


Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1287
Author(s):  
Rahmah N. Al-Qthanin ◽  
Samah A. Alharbi

Avicennia marina (Forssk.) Vierh is distributed in patches along the Farasan archipelago coast and is the most common mangrove species in the Red Sea. However, to date, no studies have been directed towards understanding its genetic variation in the Farasan archipelago. In this investigation, genetic variations within and among natural populations of Avicennia marina in the Farasan archipelago were studied using 15 microsatellite markers. The study found 142 alleles on 15 loci in nine populations. The observed (Ho) and expected (He) heterozygosity values were 0.351 and 0.391, respectively, which are much lower than those of earlier studies on A. marina in the Arabian Gulf. An inbreeding effect from self-pollination might explain its heterozygote deficiency. Population genetic differentiation (FST = 0.301) was similar to other mangrove species. Our findings suggest that the sea current direction and coastal geomorphology might affect genetic dispersal of A. marina. The more isolated populations with fewer connections by sea currents exhibited lower genetic variation and differentiation between populations. The genetic clustering of populations fell into three main groups—Group 1 (populations of Farasan Alkabir Island), Group 2 (populations of Sajid Island), and Group 3 (mix of one population of Farasan Alkabir Island and a population of Zifaf Island). More genetic variation and less genetic differentiation occurred when the population was not isolated and had a direct connection with sea currents. Both of these factors contributed to limited propagule dispersal and produced significant structures among the population. It is expected that the results of this research will be useful in determining policy and species-conservation strategies and in the rehabilitation of A. marina mangrove stands on the Farasan islands in an effort to save this significant natural resource.


1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 1454-1462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoki Tani ◽  
Nobuhiro Tomaru ◽  
Masayuki Araki ◽  
Kihachiro Ohba

Japanese stone pine (Pinuspumila Regel) is a dominant species characteristic of alpine zones of high mountains. Eighteen natural populations of P. pumila were studied in an effort to determine the extent and distribution of genetic diversity. The extent of genetic diversity within this species was high (HT = 0.271), and the genetic differentiation among populations was also high (GST = 0.170) compared with those of other conifers. In previous studies of P. pumila in Russia, the genetic variation within the species was also high, but the genetic differentiation among populations was low. We infer that this difference originates from differences in geographic distribution and ecological differences between the two countries. The genetic variation within each population tended, as a whole, to be smaller within marginal southern populations than within northern populations. Genetic relationships among populations reflect the geographic locations, as shown by unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic means and neighbor-joining phylogenetic trees.


1997 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 669 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Harwood ◽  
G. F. Moran ◽  
J. C. Bell

Genetic variation in 23 natural populations of Grevillea robusta A.Cunn. from across the natural range of the species was examined using 20 isozyme loci assayed in young seedlings. Mean expected heterozygosity per population, He , varied from 0.080 to 0.131 with an average of 0.105. The genetic diversity of individual populations did not appear to be related to their ecological characteristics (araucarian vine forest or riverine habitat types) or their geographic locations. A genetic distance analysis indicated a significant separation of the populations into two regional groups, eight from the northern part of the natural range and the remaining 15 from central and southern areas. Between-population differences accounted for 17.9% of the total genetic variation, one-third of which was attributable to the difference between the two regional groups. Most alleles at the 20 loci occurred across most or all of the geographic range. This, and the low level of genetic differentiation between populations, suggest that genetic exchange between populations has been maintained, despite the pattern of natural distribution of the species in small, separated populations.


Genetics ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 639-659
Author(s):  
B S Weir ◽  
A H D Brown ◽  
D R Marshall

ABSTRACT The statistical assessment of gene-frequency data on protein polymorphisms in natural populations remains a contentious issue. Here we formulate a test of whether polymorphisms detected by electrophoresis are in accordance with the stepwise, or charge-state, model of mutation in finite populations in the absence of selection. First, estimates of the model parameters are derived by minimizing chi-square deviations of the observed frequencies of genotypes with alleles (0,1,2…) units apart from their theoretical expected values. Then the remaining deviation is tested under the null hypothesis of neutrality. The procedure was found to be conservative for false rejections in simulation data. We applied the test to Ayala and Tracey 's data on 27 allozymic loci in six populations of Drosophila willistoni. About one-quarter of polymorphic loci showed significant departure from the neutral theory predictions in virtually all populations. A further quarter showed significant departure in some populations. The remaining data showed an acceptable fit to the charge state model. A predominating mode of selection was selection against alleles associated with extreme electrophoretic mobilities. The advantageous properties and the difficulties of the procedure are discussed.


1975 ◽  
Vol 32 (11) ◽  
pp. 2091-2101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin L. Tracey ◽  
Keith Nelson ◽  
Dennis Hedgecock ◽  
Robert A. Shleser ◽  
Mary Lou Pressick

Eight populations of American lobsters, Homarus americanus, were surveyed for genetic variation at 44 loci encoding electrophoretically detectable proteins. Rather low levels of genetic variability were found, the average proportion of heterozygous loci per individual being 3.8%. Genetic variation is concentrated at only eight loci, with just five loci — Acid phosphatase-1, Esterase-2, Phosphoglucose isomerase-4, Phosphoglucomutase-1, and Tetrazolium reductase-2 — having proportions of heterozygotes greater than 20%. Interpopulation differences are small; the genetic identity averaged over all loci, I, is above 0.99 in all but three comparisons. Differentiation between populations was found only at the Malic enzyme locus, but the degree of this differentiation supports the suggestion from previous migration and morphological studies that H. americanus is subdivided into a number of more or less geographically isolated inshore and offshore populations. These local populations are nonetheless genetically similar.


2000 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 376-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo Pimentel ◽  
Tobin L. Peever ◽  
Lori M. Carris

Isolates of Tilletia controversa and T. bromi were sampled from wheat and two Bromus species hosts, respectively, in the Pacific Northwest, and genetic variation within and among populations was determined. Fifty-one random amplified polymorphic DNA markers from eleven primers were treated as phenotypic 1 and 0 character state data to estimate similarities and analyze molecular variance (AMOVA) among populations and as putative genetic loci to carry out analyses of gene diversity. Phenotypic analysis of T. controversa and T. bromi isolates revealed two distinct clusters that were 37% similar. The T. bromi cluster was subdivided further into two groups, corresponding to host, with 40% similarity. Cluster analysis based on allele frequencies produced similar results and also supported two T. bromi groups based on host. No evidence of natural hybridization and introgression was detected between the T. controversa and T. bromi populations. Both AMOVA and gene diversity analyses detected moderate levels of differentiation among T. controversa populations, whereas T. bromi populations were highly differentiated. The level of genetic differentiation observed between the T. bromi populations on different Bromus species hosts supports the hypothesis that a high degree of host specificity exists in the wild grass-infecting smuts. We speculate that the higher level of genetic differentiation among the T. bromi populations compared with the T. controversa populations on wheat may be due to selection by a more genetically diverse host population.


2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.S. Glasenapp ◽  
E.R. Martins ◽  
V.W.D. Casali ◽  
C.D. Cruz ◽  
P.B. Barbosa

The S. adstringens, a typical Cerrado (Brazilian savannah) tree, is used because of its medicinal and tanning properties. Because of the still incipient genetic knowledge of the species, the objective of this work was to characterize the diversity and genetic structure of S. adstringens by using allozyme markers. Seeds were collected in five Brazilian mesoregions, in which 627 individuals in 16 populations in the states of Minas Gerais and Goiás were sampled. Fourteen isoenzyme systems were assessed, out of which seven were polymorphic with a total of 10 loci and 28 alleles. Average genetic diversity (H) was 0.226, average proportion of polymorphic loci (P) was 68.75, average number of alleles per polymorphic locus (AP) was 2.65 and effective number of alleles (Ae) was equal to 1.29. The results of total fixation index (F= 0.003), within population fixation index (f =-0.114) and genetic differentiation measure (θ =0.105) were not significant, which shows the inexistence of genetic structure. Two principal groups were found in the cluster analysis (UPGMA), where the first one was formed by the population of State Park (PE) of Rio Preto (MG) and the other, by the other populations. If the population of PE of Rio Preto is excluded from the analysis, G ST is drastically reduced from 0.077 to 0.026. Thus, approximately 2/3 of the total value of G ST found in S. adstringens was due to the variation among the population of PE of Rio Preto and the other populations. Overall, the values of H and P found in S. adstringens are compatible with the ones found in typically distributed tropical trees. On the other hand, by excluding the population of PE of Rio Preto, the value of the G ST genetic differentiation measure was smaller than the one found in native tropical trees from temperate zones. The similarity between the assessed populations shows that the gene flow is still high enough to avoid genetic differentiation, at the local level, at least.


2004 ◽  
Vol 53 (1-6) ◽  
pp. 234-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshiaki Tsuda ◽  
S. Goto ◽  
Y. Ide

SummaryBetula maximowicziana is a long-lived pioneer tree species in cool temperate forests that plays an important role in the forest ecosystem and has high economic value. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to evaluate the genetic variation of four natural populations of B. maximowicziana (three in central Honshu and the other in Hokkaido) to obtain fundamental information on this natural resource. Sixty-one reproductive amplified bands were obtained with 23 primers. Of these 61 bands, 22 were monomorphic and 39 were polymorphic. The level of genetic variation within each population may be very similar, because the population rankings according to number of polymorphic loci, Shannon’s indices and intra-population genetic variance revealed no definite patterns. Global analysis of AMOVA (analysis of molecular variance) showed that genetic variation among populations accounted for 15.6% of the total variation, with the remainder (84.4%) occurring within population. These results demonstrate that genetic differentiation among the four populations is moderate. Hierarchical AMOVA analysis showed that variation among regions (Hokkaido and central Honshu) accounted for 10.4% of the total genetic variation, suggesting that regional genetic differentiation is relatively high. Significant correlations between pairwise ΦPTvalues and geographic distance were detected, and results of both a neighbor-joining dendrogram based on pairwise ΦPTvalues, and principal coordinate analysis (PCO) based on a Euclidean metric revealed that the Furano population in Hokkaido was genetically different from the three populations in central Honshu. The data obtained in this study should have important implications for the conservation and management of regional genetic variation of B. maximowicziana.


1980 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis C. Yeh ◽  
Yousry A. El-Kassaby

Genetic variation at 24 enzyme loci was studied for 10 IUFRO populations of Sitka spruce (Piceasitchensis (Bong.) Carr.). The average proportion of polymorphic loci per population was 0.51 ± 0.02 and the average proportion of heterozygous loci per individual was 0.15 ± 0.03. The following generalizations were advanced: (1) the amount of genetic polymorphism varied considerably from locus to locus; (2) many populations were similar in the amount and pattern of genetic variation for most loci; (3) but some loci had large differences among populations.Eight percent of the gene diversity was attributed to interpopulation differentiation; 92% of the total gene diversity resided within populations. Pairwise comparisons of genetic distances averaged 0.014, a value which reflected very little differentiation between geographic sources.


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