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Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Diversity in Mammals: A Correlation between the Effective and Census Population Sizes
Jennifer James1,2, Adam Eyre-Walker1
1School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom.
Genome Biology and Evolution
|October 23, 2020
Summary
Genetic diversity in mammals is linked to range size and metabolic rate. Larger species ranges correlate with higher mitochondrial DNA diversity, suggesting larger effective population sizes.
Area of Science:
- Population genetics
- Evolutionary biology
- Genomics
Background:
- Understanding genetic diversity is crucial in population genetics.
- Neutral genetic diversity is expected to correlate with census population size.
- This correlation is inconsistent for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) compared to nuclear DNA.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between mitochondrial DNA sequence diversity and census population size in mammals.
- To identify factors influencing genetic diversity across a large mammalian dataset.
Main Methods:
- Compiled the largest dataset to date, analyzing 639 mammalian species.
- Utilized multiple regression analysis to assess correlations.
- Examined nucleotide diversity and effective population size proxies.
Main Results:
- Mitochondrial DNA nucleotide diversity significantly correlates with range size and mass-specific metabolic rate.
- Effective population size is negatively correlated with both range size and mass-specific metabolic rate.
- Species with larger ranges exhibit greater genetic diversity.
Conclusions:
- Species range size is a significant predictor of mitochondrial DNA diversity.
- Larger ranges are associated with larger effective population sizes.
- Doubling a species' range increases its genetic diversity by 12-20%.
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