Genetics, Vol. 165, 1269-1278, November 2003, Copyright © 2003

Demography and Natural Selection Have Shaped Genetic Variation in Drosophila melanogaster: A Multi-locus Approach

Sascha Glinkaa, Lino Omettoa, Sylvain Mousseta, Wolfgang Stephana, and David De Lorenzoa
a Section of Evolutionary Biology, Department of Biology II, University of Munich, D-80333 Munich, Germany

Corresponding author: David De Lorenzo, Department of Biology II, University of Munich, Luisenstrasse 14, D-80333 Munich, Germany., delorenzo{at}lmu.de (E-mail)

Communicating editor: M. VEUILLE

Demography and selection have been recognized for their important roles in shaping patterns of nucleotide variability. To investigate the relative effects of these forces in the genome of Drosophila melanogaster, we used a multi-locus scan (105 fragments) of X-linked DNA sequence variation in a putatively ancestral African and a derived European population. Surprisingly, we found evidence for a recent size expansion in the African population, i.e., a significant excess of singletons at a chromosome-wide level. In the European population, such an excess was not detected. In contrast to the African population, we found evidence for positive natural selection in the European sample: (i) a large number of loci with low levels of variation and (ii) a significant excess of derived variants at the low-variation loci that are fixed in the European sample but rare in the African population. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the European population has experienced frequent selective sweeps in the recent past during its adaptation to new habitats. Our study shows the advantages of a genomic approach (over a locus-specific analysis) in disentangling demographic and selective forces.





This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
N. Svetec, P. Pavlidis, and W. Stephan
Recent Strong Positive Selection on Drosophila melanogaster HDAC6, a Gene Encoding a Stress Surveillance Factor, as Revealed by Population Genomic Analysis
Mol. Biol. Evol., July 1, 2009; 26(7): 1549 - 1556.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
J. Gonzalez, J. M. Macpherson, P. W. Messer, and D. A. Petrov
Inferring the Strength of Selection in Drosophila under Complex Demographic Models
Mol. Biol. Evol., March 1, 2009; 26(3): 513 - 526.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
J. Parsch, Z. Zhang, and J. F. Baines
The Influence of Demography and Weak Selection on the McDonald-Kreitman Test: An Empirical Study in Drosophila
Mol. Biol. Evol., March 1, 2009; 26(3): 691 - 698.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
L.-M. Chevin and F. Hospital
Selective Sweep at a Quantitative Trait Locus in the Presence of Background Genetic Variation
Genetics, November 1, 2008; 180(3): 1645 - 1660.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
D. Zivkovic and T. Wiehe
Second-Order Moments of Segregating Sites Under Variable Population Size
Genetics, September 1, 2008; 180(1): 341 - 357.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Biol LettHome page
P. R Haddrill and B. Charlesworth
Non-neutral processes drive the nucleotide composition of non-coding sequences in Drosophila
Biol Lett, August 23, 2008; 4(4): 438 - 441.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
J. F. Baines, S. A. Sawyer, D. L. Hartl, and J. Parsch
Effects of X-Linkage and Sex-Biased Gene Expression on the Rate of Adaptive Protein Evolution in Drosophila
Mol. Biol. Evol., August 1, 2008; 25(8): 1639 - 1650.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
J. E. Pool and R. Nielsen
The Impact of Founder Events on Chromosomal Variability in Multiply Mating Species
Mol. Biol. Evol., August 1, 2008; 25(8): 1728 - 1736.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
J. M. Macpherson, J. Gonzalez, D. M. Witten, J. C. Davis, N. A. Rosenberg, A. E. Hirsh, and D. A. Petrov
Nonadaptive Explanations for Signatures of Partial Selective Sweeps in Drosophila
Mol. Biol. Evol., June 1, 2008; 25(6): 1025 - 1042.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
S. Beisswanger and W. Stephan
Evidence that strong positive selection drives neofunctionalization in the tandemly duplicated polyhomeotic genes in Drosophila
PNAS, April 8, 2008; 105(14): 5447 - 5452.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
A. Riebler, L. Held, and W. Stephan
Bayesian Variable Selection for Detecting Adaptive Genomic Differences Among Populations
Genetics, March 1, 2008; 178(3): 1817 - 1829.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
N. Derome, E. Baudry, D. Ogereau, M. Veuille, and C. Montchamp-Moreau
Selective Sweeps in a 2-Locus Model for Sex-Ratio Meiotic Drive in Drosophila simulans
Mol. Biol. Evol., February 1, 2008; 25(2): 409 - 416.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
V. Nolte and C. Schlotterer
African Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans Populations Have Similar Levels of Sequence Variability, Suggesting Comparable Effective Population Sizes
Genetics, January 1, 2008; 178(1): 405 - 412.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
J. M. Macpherson, G. Sella, J. C. Davis, and D. A. Petrov
Genomewide Spatial Correspondence Between Nonsynonymous Divergence and Neutral Polymorphism Reveals Extensive Adaptation in Drosophila
Genetics, December 1, 2007; 177(4): 2083 - 2099.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
J. D. Jensen, V. L. Bauer DuMont, A. B. Ashmore, A. Gutierrez, and C. F. Aquadro
Patterns of Sequence Variability and Divergence at the diminutive Gene Region of Drosophila melanogaster: Complex Patterns Suggest an Ancestral Selective Sweep
Genetics, October 1, 2007; 177(2): 1071 - 1085.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
S. Casillas, A. Barbadilla, and C. M. Bergman
Purifying Selection Maintains Highly Conserved Noncoding Sequences in Drosophila
Mol. Biol. Evol., October 1, 2007; 24(10): 2222 - 2234.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
U. Arunyawat, W. Stephan, and T. Stadler
Using Multilocus Sequence Data to Assess Population Structure, Natural Selection, and Linkage Disequilibrium in Wild Tomatoes
Mol. Biol. Evol., October 1, 2007; 24(10): 2310 - 2322.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
S. Hutter, H. Li, S. Beisswanger, D. De Lorenzo, and W. Stephan
Distinctly Different Sex Ratios in African and European Populations of Drosophila melanogaster Inferred From Chromosomewide Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Data
Genetics, September 1, 2007; 177(1): 469 - 480.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
T. L. Turner and M. W. Hahn
Locus- and Population-Specific Selection and Differentiation between Incipient Species of Anopheles gambiae
Mol. Biol. Evol., September 1, 2007; 24(9): 2132 - 2138.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
D. J. Orengo and M. Aguade
Genome Scans of Variation and Adaptive Change: Extended Analysis of a Candidate Locus Close to the phantom Gene Region in Drosophila melanogaster
Mol. Biol. Evol., May 1, 2007; 24(5): 1122 - 1129.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
S. A. Sawyer, J. Parsch, Z. Zhang, and D. L. Hartl
Inaugural Article: Prevalence of positive selection among nearly neutral amino acid replacements in Drosophila
PNAS, April 17, 2007; 104(16): 6504 - 6510.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
J. F. Baines and B. Harr
Reduced X-Linked Diversity in Derived Populations of House Mice
Genetics, April 1, 2007; 175(4): 1911 - 1921.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
J. A. Shapiro, W. Huang, C. Zhang, M. J. Hubisz, J. Lu, D. A. Turissini, S. Fang, H.-Y. Wang, R. R. Hudson, R. Nielsen, et al.
Adaptive genic evolution in the Drosophila genomes
PNAS, February 13, 2007; 104(7): 2271 - 2276.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
V. Mustonen and M. Lassig
Adaptations to fluctuating selection in Drosophila
PNAS, February 13, 2007; 104(7): 2277 - 2282.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
K. R. Thornton and J. D. Jensen
Controlling the False-Positive Rate in Multilocus Genome Scans for Selection
Genetics, February 1, 2007; 175(2): 737 - 750.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
T. Wiehe, V. Nolte, D. Zivkovic, and C. Schlotterer
Identification of Selective Sweeps Using a Dynamically Adjusted Number of Linked Microsatellites
Genetics, January 1, 2007; 175(1): 207 - 218.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
D. C. Presgraves and W. Stephan
Pervasive Adaptive Evolution among Interactors of the Drosophila Hybrid Inviability Gene, Nup96
Mol. Biol. Evol., January 1, 2007; 24(1): 306 - 314.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
P. Pfaffelhuber, B. Haubold, and A. Wakolbinger
Approximate Genealogies Under Genetic Hitchhiking
Genetics, December 1, 2006; 174(4): 1995 - 2008.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
D. Bachtrog and P. Andolfatto
Selection, Recombination and Demographic History in Drosophila miranda
Genetics, December 1, 2006; 174(4): 2045 - 2059.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
D. C. Presgraves
Intron Length Evolution in Drosophila
Mol. Biol. Evol., November 1, 2006; 23(11): 2203 - 2213.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
M. Proschel, Z. Zhang, and J. Parsch
Widespread Adaptive Evolution of Drosophila Genes With Sex-Biased Expression
Genetics, October 1, 2006; 174(2): 893 - 900.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
A. D. Cutter, S. E. Baird, and D. Charlesworth
High Nucleotide Polymorphism and Rapid Decay of Linkage Disequilibrium in Wild Populations of Caenorhabditis remanei
Genetics, October 1, 2006; 174(2): 901 - 913.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
S. Glinka, D. De Lorenzo, and W. Stephan
Evidence of Gene Conversion Associated with a Selective Sweep in Drosophila melanogaster
Mol. Biol. Evol., October 1, 2006; 23(10): 1869 - 1878.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
H. Quesada, S. E. Ramos-Onsins, J. Rozas, and M. Aguade
Positive Selection Versus Demography: Evolutionary Inferences Based on an Unusual Haplotype Structure in Drosophila simulans
Mol. Biol. Evol., September 1, 2006; 23(9): 1643 - 1647.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
H. Innan
Modified Hudson-Kreitman-Aguade Test and Two-Dimensional Evaluation of Neutrality Tests
Genetics, July 1, 2006; 173(3): 1725 - 1733.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
J. Charlesworth and A. Eyre-Walker
The Rate of Adaptive Evolution in Enteric Bacteria
Mol. Biol. Evol., July 1, 2006; 23(7): 1348 - 1356.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Genome ResHome page
K. M. Teshima, G. Coop, and M. Przeworski
How reliable are empirical genomic scans for selective sweeps?
Genome Res., June 1, 2006; 16(6): 702 - 712.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
E. Baudry, N. Derome, M. Huet, and M. Veuille
Contrasted Polymorphism Patterns in a Large Sample of Populations From the Evolutionary Genetics Model Drosophila simulans
Genetics, June 1, 2006; 173(2): 759 - 767.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
M. T. Hamblin, A. M. Casa, H. Sun, S. C. Murray, A. H. Paterson, C. F. Aquadro, and S. Kresovich
Challenges of Detecting Directional Selection After a Bottleneck: Lessons From Sorghum bicolor
Genetics, June 1, 2006; 173(2): 953 - 964.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
M. W. Hahn
Accurate Inference and Estimation in Population Genomics
Mol. Biol. Evol., May 1, 2006; 23(5): 911 - 918.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
W. Stephan, Y. S. Song, and C. H. Langley
The Hitchhiking Effect on Linkage Disequilibrium Between Linked Neutral Loci
Genetics, April 1, 2006; 172(4): 2647 - 2663.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
K. Thornton and P. Andolfatto
Approximate Bayesian Inference Reveals Evidence for a Recent, Severe Bottleneck in a Netherlands Population of Drosophila melanogaster
Genetics, March 1, 2006; 172(3): 1607 - 1619.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
J. E. Pool, V. B. DuMont, J. L. Mueller, and C. F. Aquadro
A Scan of Molecular Variation Leads to the Narrow Localization of a Selective Sweep Affecting Both Afrotropical and Cosmopolitan Populations of Drosophila melanogaster
Genetics, February 1, 2006; 172(2): 1093 - 1105.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
N. Galtier, E. Bazin, and N. Bierne
GC-Biased Segregation of Noncoding Polymorphisms in Drosophila
Genetics, January 1, 2006; 172(1): 221 - 228.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
C. Schlotterer, H. Neumeier, C. Sousa, and V. Nolte
Highly Structured Asian Drosophila melanogaster Populations: A New Tool for Hitchhiking Mapping?
Genetics, January 1, 2006; 172(1): 287 - 292.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
S. Beisswanger, W. Stephan, and D. De Lorenzo
Evidence for a Selective Sweep in the wapl Region of Drosophila melanogaster
Genetics, January 1, 2006; 172(1): 265 - 274.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Genome ResHome page
M. Ashburner and C. M. Bergman
Drosophila melanogaster: A case study of a model genomic sequence and its consequences
Genome Res., December 1, 2005; 15(12): 1661 - 1667.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
K. Thornton
Recombination and the Properties of Tajima's D in the Context of Approximate-Likelihood Calculation
Genetics, December 1, 2005; 171(4): 2143 - 2148.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
V. B. DuMont and C. F. Aquadro
Multiple Signatures of Positive Selection Downstream of Notch on the X Chromosome in Drosophila melanogaster
Genetics, October 1, 2005; 171(2): 639 - 653.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
L. Ometto, S. Glinka, D. De Lorenzo, and W. Stephan
Inferring the Effects of Demography and Selection on Drosophila melanogaster Populations from a Chromosome-Wide Scan of DNA Variation
Mol. Biol. Evol., October 1, 2005; 22(10): 2119 - 2130.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
H. Li and W. Stephan
Maximum-Likelihood Methods for Detecting Recent Positive Selection and Localizing the Selected Site in the Genome
Genetics, September 1, 2005; 171(1): 377 - 384.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
G. Schofl, F. Catania, V. Nolte, and C. Schlotterer
African Sequence Variation Accounts for Most of the Sequence Polymorphism in Non-African Drosophila melanogaster
Genetics, August 1, 2005; 170(4): 1701 - 1709.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
J. M. Braverman, B. P. Lazzaro, M. Aguade, and C. H. Langley
DNA Sequence Polymorphism and Divergence at the erect wing and suppressor of sable Loci of Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans
Genetics, July 1, 2005; 170(3): 1153 - 1165.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Genome ResHome page
P. R. Haddrill, K. R. Thornton, B. Charlesworth, and P. Andolfatto
Multilocus patterns of nucleotide variability and the demographic and selection history of Drosophila melanogaster populations
Genome Res., June 1, 2005; 15(6): 790 - 799.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
T. A. Schlenke and D. J. Begun
Linkage Disequilibrium and Recent Selection at Three Immunity Receptor Loci in Drosophila simulans
Genetics, April 1, 2005; 169(4): 2013 - 2022.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
L. Ometto, W. Stephan, and D. De Lorenzo
Insertion/Deletion and Nucleotide Polymorphism Data Reveal Constraints in Drosophila melanogaster Introns and Intergenic Regions
Genetics, March 1, 2005; 169(3): 1521 - 1527.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
K. J. Schmid, S. Ramos-Onsins, H. Ringys-Beckstein, B. Weisshaar, and T. Mitchell-Olds
A Multilocus Sequence Survey in Arabidopsis thaliana Reveals a Genome-Wide Departure From a Neutral Model of DNA Sequence Polymorphism
Genetics, March 1, 2005; 169(3): 1601 - 1615.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
F. Catania and C. Schlotterer
Non-African Origin of a Local Beneficial Mutation in D. melanogaster
Mol. Biol. Evol., February 1, 2005; 22(2): 265 - 272.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Nucleic Acids ResHome page
E. Bazin, L. Duret, S. Penel, and N. Galtier
Polymorphix: a sequence polymorphism database
Nucleic Acids Res., January 1, 2005; 33(suppl_1): D481 - D484.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
J. E. Stajich and M. W. Hahn
Disentangling the Effects of Demography and Selection in Human History
Mol. Biol. Evol., January 1, 2005; 22(1): 63 - 73.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
N. Nikoh, A. Duty, and G. Gibson
Effects of Population Structure and Sex on Association Between Serotonin Receptors and Drosophila Heart Rate
Genetics, December 1, 2004; 168(4): 1963 - 1974.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
A. Das, S. Mohanty, and W. Stephan
Inferring the Population Structure and Demography of Drosophila ananassae From Multilocus Data
Genetics, December 1, 2004; 168(4): 1975 - 1985.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
J. F. Baines, A. Das, S. Mousset, and W. Stephan
The Role of Natural Selection in Genetic Differentiation of Worldwide Populations of Drosophila ananassae
Genetics, December 1, 2004; 168(4): 1987 - 1998.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
E. Sezgin, D. D. Duvernell, L. M. Matzkin, Y. Duan, C.-T. Zhu, B. C. Verrelli, and W. F. Eanes
Single-Locus Latitudinal Clines and Their Relationship to Temperate Adaptation in Metabolic Genes and Derived Alleles in Drosophila melanogaster
Genetics, October 1, 2004; 168(2): 923 - 931.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
J. F. Storz, B. A. Payseur, and M. W. Nachman
Genome Scans of DNA Variability in Humans Reveal Evidence for Selective Sweeps Outside of Africa
Mol. Biol. Evol., September 1, 2004; 21(9): 1800 - 1811.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
D. J. Orengo and M. Aguade
Detecting the Footprint of Positive Selection in a European Population of Drosophila melanogaster: Multilocus Pattern of Variation and Distance to Coding Regions
Genetics, August 1, 2004; 167(4): 1759 - 1766.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
A. Palsson, A. Rouse, R. Riley-Berger, I. Dworkin, and G. Gibson
Nucleotide Variation in the Egfr Locus of Drosophila melanogaster
Genetics, July 1, 2004; 167(3): 1199 - 1212.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
S. Mousset, N. Derome, and M. Veuille
A Test of Neutrality and Constant Population Size Based on the Mismatch Distribution
Mol. Biol. Evol., April 1, 2004; 21(4): 724 - 731.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]