The Problem of Inferring Selection and Evolutionary History from Molecular Data

摘要: Population genetics has gone through several periods of intense theoretical and empirical advancement, in part characterized by polarization views, each followed what might be as pessimism frustration at the failure to arrive definitive conclusions. For example, discovery extensive chromosomal polymorphism Drosophila contributed polarized views 1940s 1950s concerning extent genetic natural populations whether mutation pressure drift or balancing selection maintained this variation (reviewed Lewontin, 1974). Allozymes revealed a great wealth populations, leading debate could maintain all polymorphism. These data newly acquired amino acid sequence motivated development view that most evolution molecular level was driven drift, with playing primarily constraint role, eliminating strongly deleterious mutations, only rarely creative role adaptive change (in relative terms compared total number nucleotides genome) (Kimura, 1983). Largely because ease allozyme collection, “static sample” approach (Lewontin, 1991) population grew an enormous rate, documentation levels tremendous diversity organisms.