scholarly journals Natural selection does not affect the estimates of effective population size based on linkage disequilibrium

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Novo ◽  
Armando Caballero ◽  
Enrique Santiago

The effective population size ( N e ) is a key parameter to quantify the magnitude of genetic drift and inbreeding, with important implications in human evolution. The increasing availability of high-density genetic markers allows the estimation of historical changes in N e across time using measures of genome diversity or linkage disequilibrium between markers. Selection is expected to reduce diversity and N e , and this reduction is modulated by the heterogeneity of the genome in terms of recombination rate. Here we investigate by computer simulations the consequences of selection (both positive and negative) and of recombination rate heterogeneity in the estimation of historical N e . We also investigate the relationship between diversity parameters and N e across the different regions of the genome using human marker data. We show that the estimates of historical N e obtained from linkage disequilibrium between markers ( N e LD ) are virtually unaffected by selection. In contrast, those estimates obtained by coalescence mutation-recombination-based methods can be strongly affected by it, what could have important consequences for the estimation of human demography. The simulation results are supported by the analysis of human data. The estimates of N e LD obtained for particular genomic regions do not correlate with recombination rate, nucleotide diversity, polymorphism, background selection statistic, minor allele frequency of SNPs, loss of function and missense variants and gene density. This suggests that N e LD measures are merely indicative of demographic changes in population size across generations.

2004 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
SCOTT V. EDWARDS ◽  
MEGAN DILLON

Hitchhiking phenomena and genetic recombination have important consequences for a variety of fields for which birds are model species, yet we know virtually nothing about naturally occurring rates of recombination or the extent of linkage disequilibrium in birds. We took advantage of a previously sequenced cosmid clone from Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) bearing a highly polymorphic Mhc class II gene, Agph-DAB1, to measure the extent of linkage disequilibrium across ~40 kb of genomic DNA and to determine whether non-coding nucleotide diversity was elevated as a result of physical proximity to a target of balancing selection. Application of coalescent theory predicts that the hitchhiking effect is enhanced by the larger effective population size of blackbirds compared with humans, despite the presumably higher rates of recombination in birds. We surveyed sequence polymorphism at three Mhc-linked loci occurring 1·5–40 kb away from Agph-DAB1 and found that nucleotide diversity was indistinguishable from that found at three presumably unlinked, non-coding introns (β-actin intron 2, β-fibrinogen intron 7 and rhodopsin intron 2). Linkage disequilibrium as measured by Lewontin's D' was found only across a few hundred base pairs within any given locus, and was not detectable among any Mhc-linked loci. Estimated rates of the per site recombination rate ρ derived from three different analytical methods suggest that the amounts of recombination in blackbirds are up to two orders of magnitude higher than in humans, a discrepancy that cannot be explained entirely by the higher effective population size of blackbirds relative to humans. In addition, the ratio of the number of estimated recombination events per mutation frequently exceeds 1, as in Drosophila, again much higher than estimates in humans. Although the confidence limits of the blackbird estimates themselves span an order of magnitude, these data suggest that in blackbirds the hitchhiking effect for this region is negligible and may imply that the per site per individual recombination rate is high, resembling those of Drosophila more than those of humans.


Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 577
Author(s):  
Huiwen Zhan ◽  
Saixian Zhang ◽  
Kaili Zhang ◽  
Xia Peng ◽  
Shengsong Xie ◽  
...  

Investigating the patterns of homozygosity, linkage disequilibrium, effective population size and inbreeding coefficients in livestock contributes to our understanding of the genetic diversity and evolutionary history. Here we used Illumina PorcineSNP50 Bead Chip to identify the runs of homozygosity (ROH) and estimate the linkage disequilibrium (LD) across the whole genome, and then predict the effective population size. In addition, we calculated the inbreeding coefficients based on ROH in 305 Piétrain pigs and compared its effect with the other two types of inbreeding coefficients obtained by different calculation methods. A total of 23,434 ROHs were detected, and the average length of ROH per individual was about 507.27 Mb. There was no regularity on how those runs of homozygosity distributed in genome. The comparisons of different categories suggested that the formation of long ROH was probably related with recent inbreeding events. Although the density of genes located in ROH core regions is lower than that in the other genomic regions, most of them are related with Piétrain commercial traits like meat qualities. Overall, the results provide insight into the way in which ROH is produced and the identified ROH core regions can be used to map the genes associated with commercial traits in domestic animals.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Alberto García Cortés ◽  
Frédéric Austerlitz ◽  
M. Ángeles R. de Cara

AbstractEffective population size (Ne) is a key parameter in evolutionary and conservation studies. It characterises the number of unique or distinct individuals in a population, and can be used to establish management programmes. Several methods have been developed to estimate this parameter. Currently, for studies with one sample in time, the simplest methods are based on linkage disequilibrium. These methods rely on simple models, and biases have been shown when populations deviate from the assumptions made in those models. This occurs in particular when populations are age-structured or have overlapping generations. Recently, several methods have been developed to correct such biases. Here, we develop analytical equations to predict linkage disequilibrium within age groups, and use such results to infer cohort size from samples of newborn individuals. We can in turn use these equations to estimate Ne accurately for a variety of species. Furthermore, using publicly available data, we apply our method to the white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys).


BMC Genetics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Prieur ◽  
Shannon M. Clarke ◽  
Luiz F. Brito ◽  
John C. McEwan ◽  
Michael A. Lee ◽  
...  

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1089
Author(s):  
Andreia J. Amaral ◽  
Ana L. Pavão ◽  
Luis T. Gama

Ramo Grande is a local cattle breed raised in the archipelago of Azores, with a small and dispersed census, where inbreeding control is of utmost importance. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) Beadchip array was used to assess inbreeding, by analysis of genomic regions harboring contiguous homozygous genotypes named runs of homozygosity (ROH), and to estimate past effective population size by analysis of linkage disequilibrium (LD). Genetic markers associated with production traits were also investigated, exploiting the unique genetic and adaptation features of this breed. A total of 639 ROH with length >4 Mb were identified, with mean length of 14.96 Mb. The mean genomic inbreeding was 0.09, and long segments of ROH were common, indicating recent inbred matings. The LD pattern indicates a large effective population size, suggesting the inflow of exotic germplasm in the past. The genome-wide association study identified novel markers significantly affecting longevity, age at first calving and direct genetic effects on calf weight. These results provide the first evidence of the association of longevity with genes related with DNA recognition and repair, and the association of age at first calving with aquaporin proteins, which are known to have a crucial role in reproduction.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 2441-2449
Author(s):  
Jennifer James ◽  
Adam Eyre-Walker

Abstract What determines the level of genetic diversity of a species remains one of the enduring problems of population genetics. Because neutral diversity depends upon the product of the effective population size and mutation rate, there is an expectation that diversity should be correlated to measures of census population size. This correlation is often observed for nuclear but not for mitochondrial DNA. Here, we revisit the question of whether mitochondrial DNA sequence diversity is correlated to census population size by compiling the largest data set to date, using 639 mammalian species. In a multiple regression, we find that nucleotide diversity is significantly correlated to both range size and mass-specific metabolic rate, but not a variety of other factors. We also find that a measure of the effective population size, the ratio of nonsynonymous to synonymous diversity, is also significantly negatively correlated to both range size and mass-specific metabolic rate. These results together suggest that species with larger ranges have larger effective population sizes. The slope of the relationship between diversity and range is such that doubling the range increases diversity by 12–20%, providing one of the first quantifications of the relationship between diversity and the census population size.


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