Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 30, 2026

Combined Immunofluorescence and DNA FISH on 3D-preserved Interphase Nuclei to Study Changes in 3D Nuclear Organization
Published on: February 3, 2013
Exponential distance statistics to detect the effects of population subdivision
1Applied Mathematics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
Abstract:
Statistical tests are needed to determine whether spatial structure has had a significant effect on the genetic differentiation of subpopulations. Here we introduce a new family of statistics based on a sum of an exponential function of the distances between individuals, which can be used with any genetic distance (e.g., nucleotide differences, number of nonshared alleles, or separation on a phylogenetic tree). The power of the tests to detect genetic differentiation in Wright-Fisher island models and stepping stone models was calculated for various sample sizes, rates of migration and mutation, and definitions of spatial neighborhoods. We found that our new test was in some cases more powerful than the Ks* statistic of Hudson et al. (Mol. Biol. Evol. 9, 138-151, 1992), but in all cases was slightly less powerful than both a traditional chi2 test without lumping of rare haplotypes and the S(nn) test of Hudson (Genetics 155, 2011-2014, 2000). However, when we applied our new tests to three data sets, we found in some cases highly significant results that were missed by the other tests.
Related Concept Videos
What are Populations and Communities?
Population Growth
Estimating Population Standard Deviation
Exponential Equations with Logarithms: Problem Solving
Exponential Equations for Modeling Growth
Modeling with Differential Equations

