The proposed research tests whether natural selection contributes to the maintenance of polymorphism within species and to genetic divergence between species, and if selection is operating to distinguish between different kinds of selection. The analysis relies jointly on a powerful new strategy for determining the DNA sequences of many alleles of the same gene and on a new set of statistical tests for distinguishing evolutionary forces. By comparing nucleotide polymorphism within species to divergence between species the statistical tests allow genetic drift, positive selection (adaptive change), negative selection (adaptive constraint) and balancing selection (heterozygote advantage) to be distinguished one from another. The tests will also address whether amino acid substitutions in protein evolution are governed by genetic drift or by positive selection. The goal of the study is to understand the evolutionary cause of two major patterns of protein variation: loci with no polymorphism and loci with Intermediate frequency alleles. Nucleotide polymorphism levels will be determined for six gene loci in each of three related Drosophila species. The loci have been chosen so that specific predictions can be made about the mode of selection affecting their evolution. The kinds of genetic variation in proteins in natural populations, and the forces of selection operating on them is of direct interest to problems of genetic disease and to variation In response to conditions of the environment.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM039355-07
Application #
3296270
Study Section
Genetics Study Section (GEN)
Project Start
1988-04-01
Project End
1995-03-31
Budget Start
1993-04-01
Budget End
1994-03-31
Support Year
7
Fiscal Year
1993
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Chicago
Department
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
225410919
City
Chicago
State
IL
Country
United States
Zip Code
60637
Toomajian, Christopher; Ajioka, Richard S; Jorde, Lynn B et al. (2003) A method for detecting recent selection in the human genome from allele age estimates. Genetics 165:287-97
Comeron, Josep M; Kreitman, Martin (2002) Population, evolutionary and genomic consequences of interference selection. Genetics 161:389-410
Toomajian, Christopher; Kreitman, Martin (2002) Sequence variation and haplotype structure at the human HFE locus. Genetics 161:1609-23
Andolfatto, P; Kreitman, M (2000) Molecular variation at the In(2L)t proximal breakpoint site in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans. Genetics 154:1681-91
Comeron, J M; Kreitman, M (2000) The correlation between intron length and recombination in drosophila. Dynamic equilibrium between mutational and selective forces. Genetics 156:1175-90
Antezana, M A; Hudson, R R (1999) Type I error and the power of the s-test: old lessons from a new, analytically justified statistical test for phylogenies. Syst Biol 48:300-16
Comeron, J M; Kreitman, M; Aguade, M (1999) Natural selection on synonymous sites is correlated with gene length and recombination in Drosophila. Genetics 151:239-49
Comeron, J M; Kreitman, M (1998) The correlation between synonymous and nonsynonymous substitutions in Drosophila: mutation, selection or relaxed constraints? Genetics 150:767-75
Hasson, E; Wang, I N; Zeng, L W et al. (1998) Nucleotide variation in the triosephosphate isomerase (Tpi) locus of Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans. Mol Biol Evol 15:756-69
Ballard, J W; Hatzidakis, J; Karr, T L et al. (1996) Reduced variation in Drosophila simulans mitochondrial DNA. Genetics 144:1519-28

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