This journal frequently contains papers that report values of F-statistics estimated from genetic data collected from several populations. These parameters, FST, FIT, and FIS, were introduced by Wright (1951), and offer a convenient means of summarizing population structure. While there is some disagreement about the interpretation of the quantities, there is considerably more disagreement on the method of evaluating them. Different authors make different assumptions about sample sizes or numbers of populations and handle the difficulties of multiple alleles and unequal sample sizes in different ways. Wright himself, for example, did not consider the effects of finite sample size. The purpose of this discussion is to offer some unity to various estimation formulae and to point out that correlations of genes in structured populations, with which F-statistics are concerned, are expressed very conveniently with a set of parameters treated by Cockerham (1 969, 1973). We start with the parameters and construct appropriate estimators for them, rather than beginning the discussion with various data functions. The extension of Cockerham's work to multiple alleles and loci will be made explicit, and the use of jackknife procedures for estimating variances will be advocated. All of this may be regarded as an extension of a recent treatment of estimating the coancestry coefficient to serve as a mea-

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2408641.pdf

Estimating F-statistics for the analysis of population structure.

Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201

The Theory of Island Biogeography

Statistical method for testing the neutral mutation hypothesis by DNA polymorphism.

Although much biological research depends upon species diagnoses, taxonomic expertise is collapsing. We are convinced that the sole prospect for a sustainable identification capability lies in the construction of systems that employ DNA sequences as taxon 'barcodes'. We establish that the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) can serve as the core of a global bioidentification system for animals. First, we demonstrate that COI profiles, derived from the low-density sampling of higher taxonomic categories, ordinarily assign newly analysed taxa to the appropriate phylum or order. Second, we demonstrate that species-level assignments can be obtained by creating comprehensive COI profiles. A model COI profile, based upon the analysis of a single individual from each of 200 closely allied species of lepidopterans, was 100% successful in correctly identifying subsequent specimens. When fully developed, a COI identification system will provide a reliable, cost-effective and accessible solution to the current problem of species identification. Its assembly will also generate important new insights into the diversification of life and the rules of molecular evolution.

/pdf/biological-identifications-through-dna-barcodes-2m7h08avvi.pdf

Biological identifications through DNA barcodes

So far in this course we have dealt entirely with the evolution of characters that are controlled by simple Mendelian inheritance at a single locus. There are notes on the course website about gametic disequilibrium and how allele frequencies change at two loci simultaneously, but we didn’t discuss them. In every example we’ve considered we’ve imagined that we could understand something about evolution by examining the evolution of a single gene. That’s the domain of classical population genetics. For the next few weeks we’re going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach we’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery. If you know a little about the history of evolutionary biology, you may know that after the rediscovery of Mendel’s work in 1900 there was a heated debate between the “biometricians” (e.g., Galton and Pearson) and the “Mendelians” (e.g., de Vries, Correns, Bateson, and Morgan). Biometricians asserted that the really important variation in evolution didn’t follow Mendelian rules. Height, weight, skin color, and similar traits seemed to

Human biochemical genetics

Charles Darwin's enthusiasm and expertise in natural history contributed hugely to his elucidation of evolution by natural selection, which stands as one of the grandest intellectual achievements in the history of science. Darwin was a lifelong observer of nature, stating in correspondence that some of his happiest times in youth were spent fishing on rainy days and “entomologizing” when England's weather was nice. At the age of 22, he boarded the HSM Beagle for a 5-year stint as Captain Fitzroy's traveling companion and the ship's naturalist, an appointment that introduced him to bio diversity on a global geographic scale. Darwin's breadth and depth of natural-history experience would later be on full display in his most defining scientific works (3⇓–5) in his detailed treatises on orchids, insectivorous plants, coral reefs, barnacles, and earthworms (6⇓⇓⇓–10).

The year 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of his most influential publication (3). Darwin transformed the biological sciences in much the same way that Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, and Isaac Newton, centuries earlier, transformed the physical sciences—by demonstrating that the universe operates according to natural laws that fall within the purview of rational scientific inquiry. In 1543, Copernicus published De revolutionibus orbium celestium (“On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres”) that challenged conventional wisdom that the Earth was the center of Creation, and instead promoted the idea that natural laws govern the motion of physical objects in the universe. In 1859, in On the Origin of Species , Darwin developed the equally revolutionary concept that a natural but nonrandom process—natural selection—yields biological adaptations that otherwise can give the superficial impression of direct intelligent craftsmanship.

Darwin's impacts have been felt far beyond science. Before Darwin, most scientists and theologians accepted what … 

[↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. E-mail: javise{at}uci.edu or fjayala{at}uci.edu

 [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

/pdf/in-the-light-of-evolution-iii-two-centuries-of-darwin-4ts4si01h1.pdf

In the light of evolution III: Two centuries of Darwin

In the Light of Evolution

Patterns of Biodiversity and Endemism on Indo-West Pacific Coral Reefs

1. 1. Several carbohydrate metabolizing enzymes were examined spectrophotometrically and electrophoretically in four life stages of the holometabolic fruit fly, Drosophila pseudoobscura , and in three life stages of the hemimetabolic pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum . 2. 2. Drosophila pupae exhibit significantly lower enzyme activities than third instar larvae. Most enzymes recover to larval levels or higher in adults, but some continue to decrease following eclosion. 3. 3. Enzyme activities remain relatively unchanged during development of Acyrthosiphon . 4. 4. The same isozymic forms of each enzyme are usually represented in all life stages of Drosophila , and in all life stages of Acyrthosiphon . 5. 5. Enzyme levels parallel the distinct morphological and physiological changes characterizing development of representative holo- and hemi-metabolic insects.

/pdf/enzyme-changes-during-development-of-holo-and-hemi-metabolic-3yc53hf7ha.pdf

Enzyme changes during development of holo- and hemi-metabolic insects

This study documents unexpectedly low levels of intra and interpopulation genetic diversity in Kryptolebias ocellatus, an androdioecious and predominantly self-fertilizing killifish from south-eastern Brazil. This finding generally is inconsistent with the established opinion that the K. ocellatus and K. marmoratus clade originated in this geographic region and later dispersed northward into the Caribbean.

/pdf/extreme-homogeneity-and-low-genetic-diversity-in-4rlzfti407.pdf

Extreme homogeneity and low genetic diversity in Kryptolebias ocellatus from south-eastern Brazil suggest a recent foundation for this androdioecious fish population

John C. Avise

Papers

In the light of evolution III: Two centuries of Darwin

In the Light of Evolution

Patterns of Biodiversity and Endemism on Indo-West Pacific Coral Reefs

Enzyme changes during development of holo- and hemi-metabolic insects

Extreme homogeneity and low genetic diversity in Kryptolebias ocellatus from south-eastern Brazil suggest a recent foundation for this androdioecious fish population