DNAprint Genomics (DNAG)

[SlopsterSlasher]

Published online before print January 19, 2004, 10.1073/pnas.0308064100

This Article

Full Text (PDF)
Alert me when this article is cited
Alert me if a correction is posted

Services

Similar articles in this journal
Similar articles in PubMed
Alert me to new issues of the journal
Download to citation manager
Cited by other online articles
Request Copyright Permission

PubMed

PubMed Citation
Articles by Edmonds, C. A.
Articles by Cavalli-Sforza, L. L.

Evolution
Mutations arising in the wave front of an expanding population

Christopher A. Edmonds, Anita S. Lillie, and L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza *
Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305



Contributed by L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza, December 4, 2003

The ability to infer the time and place of origin of a mutation can be very useful when reconstructing the evolutionary histories of populations and species. We use forward computer simulations of population growth, migration, and mutation in an analysis of an expanding population with a wave front that advances at a constant slow rate. A pronounced founder effect can be observed among mutations arising in this wave front where extreme population bottlenecks arise and are followed by major population growth. A fraction of mutations travel with the wave front and generate mutant populations that are on average much larger than those that remain stationary. Analysis of the diffusion of these mutants makes it possible to reconstruct migratory trajectories during population expansions, thus helping us better understand observed patterns in the evolution of species such as modern humans. Examination of some historical data supports our model.