Searching across hundreds of databases

Our searching services are busy right now. Your search will reload in five seconds.

X
Forgot Password

If you have forgotten your password you can enter your email here and get a temporary password sent to your email.

X
Forgot Password

If you have forgotten your password you can enter your email here and get a temporary password sent to your email.

GC-biased evolution near human accelerated regions.

PLoS genetics | 2010

Regions of the genome that have been the target of positive selection specifically along the human lineage are of special importance in human biology. We used high throughput sequencing combined with methods to enrich human genomic samples for particular targets to obtain the sequence of 22 chromosomal samples at high depth in 40 kb neighborhoods of 49 previously identified 100-400 bp elements that show evidence for human accelerated evolution. In addition to selection, the pattern of nucleotide substitutions in several of these elements suggested an historical bias favoring the conversion of weak (A or T) alleles into strong (G or C) alleles. Here we found strong evidence in the derived allele frequency spectra of many of these 40 kb regions for ongoing weak-to-strong fixation bias. Comparison of the nucleotide composition at polymorphic loci to the composition at sites of fixed substitutions additionally reveals the signature of historical weak-to-strong fixation bias in a subset of these regions. Most of the regions with evidence for historical bias do not also have signatures of ongoing bias, suggesting that the evolutionary forces generating weak-to-strong bias are not constant over time. To investigate the role of selection in shaping these regions, we analyzed the spatial pattern of polymorphism in our samples. We found no significant evidence for selective sweeps, possibly because the signal of such sweeps has decayed beyond the power of our tests to detect them. Together, these results do not rule out functional roles for the observed changes in these regions-indeed there is good evidence that the first two are functional elements in humans-but they suggest that a fixation process (such as biased gene conversion) that is biased at the nucleotide level, but is otherwise selectively neutral, could be an important evolutionary force at play in them, both historically and at present.

Pubmed ID: 20502635 RIS Download

Associated grants

  • Agency: NIGMS NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 GM082901
  • Agency: NIDA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: 1R03DA026061-01
  • Agency: NIGMS NIH HHS, United States
    Id: GM82901
  • Agency: NHGRI NIH HHS, United States
    Id: U41 HG004568
  • Agency: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, United States
  • Agency: NIDA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R03 DA026061

Publication data is provided by the National Library of Medicine ® and PubMed ®. Data is retrieved from PubMed ® on a weekly schedule. For terms and conditions see the National Library of Medicine Terms and Conditions.

This is a list of tools and resources that we have found mentioned in this publication.


National Institute of General Medical Sciences: Research Funding (tool)

RRID:SCR_003096

NIGMS places great emphasis on the support of individual, investigator-initiated grants within its scientific mission areas. Most grants are for research projects (R01), but NIGMS also funds program projects (P01) as well as some research resources. The Institute encourages research in certain scientific areas through requests for applications and program announcements. This website has information for upcoming grants, minority grants as well as training opportunities in medical research in the following disciplines: cell biology, biophysics, genetics, developmental biology, pharmacology, physiology, biological chemistry, bioinformatics, and computational biology.

View all literature mentions

GWAS: Catalog of Published Genome-Wide Association Studies (tool)

RRID:SCR_012745

Catalog of published genome-wide association studies. Genome-wide set of genetic variants in different individuals to see if any variant is associated with trait and disease. Database of genome-wide association study (GWAS) publications including only those attempting to assay single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Publications are organized from most to least recent date of publication. Studies are identified through weekly PubMed literature searches, daily NIH-distributed compilations of news and media reports, and occasional comparisons with an existing database of GWAS literature (HuGE Navigator). Works with HANCESTRO ancestry representation.

View all literature mentions

International HapMap Project (tool)

RRID:SCR_002846

THIS RESOURCE IS NO LONGER IN SERVICE, documented August 22, 2016. A multi-country collaboration among scientists and funding agencies to develop a public resource where genetic similarities and differences in human beings are identified and catalogued. Using this information, researchers will be able to find genes that affect health, disease, and individual responses to medications and environmental factors. All of the information generated by the Project will be released into the public domain. Their goal is to compare the genetic sequences of different individuals to identify chromosomal regions where genetic variants are shared. Public and private organizations in six countries are participating in the International HapMap Project. Data generated by the Project can be downloaded with minimal constraints. HapMap project related data, software, and documentation include: bulk data on genotypes, frequencies, LD data, phasing data, allocated SNPs, recombination rates and hotspots, SNP assays, Perlegen amplicons, raw data, inferred genotypes, and mitochondrial and chrY haplogroups; Generic Genome Browser software; protocols and information on assay design, genotyping and other protocols used in the project; and documentation of samples/individuals and the XML format used in the project.

View all literature mentions

1000 Genomes: A Deep Catalog of Human Genetic Variation (tool)

RRID:SCR_006828

International collaboration producing an extensive public catalog of human genetic variation, including SNPs and structural variants, and their haplotype contexts, in an effort to provide a foundation for investigating the relationship between genotype and phenotype. The genomes of about 2500 unidentified people from about 25 populations around the world were sequenced using next-generation sequencing technologies. Redundant sequencing on various platforms and by different groups of scientists of the same samples can be compared. The results of the study are freely and publicly accessible to researchers worldwide. The consortium identified the following populations whose DNA will be sequenced: Yoruba in Ibadan, Nigeria; Japanese in Tokyo; Chinese in Beijing; Utah residents with ancestry from northern and western Europe; Luhya in Webuye, Kenya; Maasai in Kinyawa, Kenya; Toscani in Italy; Gujarati Indians in Houston; Chinese in metropolitan Denver; people of Mexican ancestry in Los Angeles; and people of African ancestry in the southwestern United States. The goal Project is to find most genetic variants that have frequencies of at least 1% in the populations studied. Sequencing is still too expensive to deeply sequence the many samples being studied for this project. However, any particular region of the genome generally contains a limited number of haplotypes. Data can be combined across many samples to allow efficient detection of most of the variants in a region. The Project currently plans to sequence each sample to about 4X coverage; at this depth sequencing cannot provide the complete genotype of each sample, but should allow the detection of most variants with frequencies as low as 1%. Combining the data from 2500 samples should allow highly accurate estimation (imputation) of the variants and genotypes for each sample that were not seen directly by the light sequencing. All samples from the 1000 genomes are available as lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) and LCL derived DNA from the Coriell Cell Repository as part of the NHGRI Catalog. The sequence and alignment data generated by the 1000genomes project is made available as quickly as possible via their mirrored ftp sites. ftp://ftp.1000genomes.ebi.ac.uk ftp://ftp-trace.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1000genomes

View all literature mentions