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Organization of genetic variation at the molecular level: Lessons from Drosophila

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Molecular Ecology and Evolution: Approaches and Applications

Part of the book series: Experientia Supplementum ((EXS,volume 69))

Summary

The allelic variation in DNA revealed by molecular methods has become a panacea for resolving questions about the evolutionary history and structure of natural populations. The problem we are interested in considering here involves the use of sequence variation for making inferences about the past history of a population: the extent of population subdivision, the level of gene flow, the historical patterns of population movement, the origins or genealogy of particular races or subpopulations, or the phylogenetic relationships among groups. In order to answer historically contingent questions such as these with molecular variation, it is necessary to interpret the patterning of that variation in terms of population-level forces rather than in terms of specific forces acting at or near the locus. What assumptions about the way in which DNA is evolving allow such an interpretation? And what is known about their validity?

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, 1101 E. 57th St., Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    M. Kreitman & M. L. Wayne

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  1. M. Kreitman
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Zoologisches Institut, Universität Frankfurt, Siesmayerstr. 70, D-60054, Frankfurt, Germany

    B. Schierwater  & B. Streit  & 

  2. Department of Biology, Yale University, 165 Prospect St., New Haven, CT, 06511, USA

    G. P. Wagner

  3. Department of Entomology, American Museum of Natural History, 79th Street at Central Park West, New York, NY, 10024, USA

    R. DeSalle

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Kreitman, M., Wayne, M.L. (1994). Organization of genetic variation at the molecular level: Lessons from Drosophila . In: Schierwater, B., Streit, B., Wagner, G.P., DeSalle, R. (eds) Molecular Ecology and Evolution: Approaches and Applications. Experientia Supplementum, vol 69. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-7527-1_9

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