Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations
Published on: February 3, 2023
Effects of natural selection on interpopulation divergence at polymorphic sites in human protein-coding Loci
Austin L Hughes1, Bernice Packer, Robert Welch
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA. austin@biol.sc.edu
Abstract:
To develop new strategies for searching for genetic associations with complex human diseases, we analyzed 2784 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 396 protein-coding genes involved in biological processes relevant to cancer and other complex diseases, with respect to gene diversity within samples of individuals representing the three major historic human populations (African, European, and Asian) and with respect to interpopulation genetic distance. Reduced levels of both intrapopulation gene diversity and interpopulation genetic distance were seen in the case of SNPs located within the 5'-UTR and at nonsynonymous SNPs, causing radical changes to protein structure. Reduction of gene diversity at SNP loci in these categories was evidence of purifying selection acting at these sites, which in turn causes a reduction in interpopulation divergence. By contrast, a small number of SNP sites in these categories revealed unusually high genetic distances between the two most diverged populations (African and Asian); these loci may have historically been subject to divergent selection pressures.
Related Concept Videos
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
In contrast, regions which code...
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
In contrast, regions which code...
Gene Duplication and Divergence
The duplicated copies of the gene are called Paralogs. Paralogs with similar sequences and functions form a gene family. Across several species, a large number of gene families are characterized.
Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift
Genetics of Speciation
Multi-species Conserved Sequences
Although the genome of each species varies greatly from each other, a few sequences are highly conserved. Such conserved DNA...

