Originally published as Genetics Published Articles Ahead of Print on February 1, 2008.

Genetics, Vol. 178, 1517-1532, March 2008, Copyright © 2008
doi:10.1534/genetics.107.075200

Linkage Disequilibrium Under Skewed Offspring Distribution Among Individuals in a Population

Bjarki Eldon1 and John Wakeley

Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

1 Corresponding author: 4100 Biological Laboratories, 16 Divinity Ave., Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.
E-mail: eldon{at}fas.harvard.edu

Correlations in coalescence times between two loci are derived under selectively neutral population models in which the offspring of an individual can number on the order of the population size. The correlations depend on the rates of recombination and random drift and are shown to be functions of the parameters controlling the size and frequency of these large reproduction events. Since a prediction of linkage disequilibrium can be written in terms of correlations in coalescence times, it follows that the prediction of linkage disequilibrium is a function not only of the rate of recombination but also of the reproduction parameters. Low linkage disequilibrium is predicted if the offspring of a single individual frequently replace almost the entire population. However, high linkage disequilibrium can be predicted if the offspring of a single individual replace an intermediate fraction of the population. In some cases the model reproduces the standard Wright–Fisher predictions. Contrary to common intuition, high linkage disequilibrium can be predicted despite frequent recombination, and low linkage disequilibrium under infrequent recombination. Simulations support the analytical results but show that the variance of linkage disequilibrium is very large.