Coalescence times and the Meselson effect in asexual eukaryotes
(2003) In Genetical Research 82(3). p.183-190- Abstract
- In asexual eukaryotes, the two allelic gene copies at a locus are expected to become highly divergent as a result of the independent accumulation of mutations in the absence of segregation. If sexual reproduction was abandoned millions of generations ago, intra-individual allelic divergences can be significantly larger than in species that reproduce sexually. Owing to the disputed existence of truly ancient asexual species, this so-called 'Meselson effect' has been put forward as a means of confirming the complete loss of sexual reproduction. Very few attempts have, however, been made at quantifying the effect of sexual reproduction on the degree of divergence between gene copies in an asexual population. Here, I describe how asexual... (More)
- In asexual eukaryotes, the two allelic gene copies at a locus are expected to become highly divergent as a result of the independent accumulation of mutations in the absence of segregation. If sexual reproduction was abandoned millions of generations ago, intra-individual allelic divergences can be significantly larger than in species that reproduce sexually. Owing to the disputed existence of truly ancient asexual species, this so-called 'Meselson effect' has been put forward as a means of confirming the complete loss of sexual reproduction. Very few attempts have, however, been made at quantifying the effect of sexual reproduction on the degree of divergence between gene copies in an asexual population. Here, I describe how asexual reproduction can be regarded as a special case of population subdivision. Using a slightly modified version of the standard two-deme structured coalescent, I derive the expected coalescence time for a pair of gene copies in an asexual population and show that the Meselson effect is compatible with low rates of sexual reproduction. (Less)
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https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/281878
- author
- Ceplitis, Alf LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2003
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Genetical Research
- volume
- 82
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 183 - 190
- publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000220642000004
- pmid:15134197
- scopus:1842434336
- ISSN
- 1469-5073
- DOI
- 10.1017/S0016672303006487
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Genetics (Closed 2011) (011005100)
- id
- 231ba479-e361-4edc-9870-4a1e498c717a (old id 281878)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 17:01:54
- date last changed
- 2022-03-30 20:04:13
@article{231ba479-e361-4edc-9870-4a1e498c717a,
abstract = {{In asexual eukaryotes, the two allelic gene copies at a locus are expected to become highly divergent as a result of the independent accumulation of mutations in the absence of segregation. If sexual reproduction was abandoned millions of generations ago, intra-individual allelic divergences can be significantly larger than in species that reproduce sexually. Owing to the disputed existence of truly ancient asexual species, this so-called 'Meselson effect' has been put forward as a means of confirming the complete loss of sexual reproduction. Very few attempts have, however, been made at quantifying the effect of sexual reproduction on the degree of divergence between gene copies in an asexual population. Here, I describe how asexual reproduction can be regarded as a special case of population subdivision. Using a slightly modified version of the standard two-deme structured coalescent, I derive the expected coalescence time for a pair of gene copies in an asexual population and show that the Meselson effect is compatible with low rates of sexual reproduction.}},
author = {{Ceplitis, Alf}},
issn = {{1469-5073}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
pages = {{183--190}},
publisher = {{Cambridge University Press}},
series = {{Genetical Research}},
title = {{Coalescence times and the Meselson effect in asexual eukaryotes}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0016672303006487}},
doi = {{10.1017/S0016672303006487}},
volume = {{82}},
year = {{2003}},
}