IDT. Quality oligos. Every time.

Genetics, Vol. 178, 405-412, January 2008, Copyright © 2008
doi:10.1534/genetics.107.080200

African Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans Populations Have Similar Levels of Sequence Variability, Suggesting Comparable Effective Population Sizes

Institut für Tierzucht und Genetik, Veterinärmedizinische Universität, A-1210 Wien, Austria

1 Corresponding author: Institut für Tierzucht und Genetik, Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien, Josef Baumann Gasse 1, A-1210 Wien, Austria.
E-mail: christian.schloetterer{at}vu-wien.ac.at

Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans are two closely related species with a similar distribution range. Many studies suggested that D. melanogaster has a smaller effective population size than D. simulans. As most evidence was derived from non-African populations, we readdressed this question by sequencing 10 X-linked loci in five African D. simulans and six African D. melanogaster populations. Contrary to previous results, we found no evidence for higher variability, and thus larger effective population size, in D. simulans. Our observation of similar levels of variability of both species will have important implications for the interpretation of patterns of molecular evolution.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
N. D. Singh, P. F. Arndt, A. G. Clark, and C. F. Aquadro
Strong Evidence for Lineage and Sequence Specificity of Substitution Rates and Patterns in Drosophila
Mol. Biol. Evol., July 1, 2009; 26(7): 1591 - 1605.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
GeneticsHome page
T. Stadler, B. Haubold, C. Merino, W. Stephan, and P. Pfaffelhuber
The Impact of Sampling Schemes on the Site Frequency Spectrum in Nonequilibrium Subdivided Populations
Genetics, May 1, 2009; 182(1): 205 - 216.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Mol Biol EvolHome page
P. R. Haddrill, D. Bachtrog, and P. Andolfatto
Positive and Negative Selection on Noncoding DNA in Drosophila simulans
Mol. Biol. Evol., September 1, 2008; 25(9): 1825 - 1834.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]