Skip Navigation



MBE Advance Access published online on November 9, 2005
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msj057
This Article
Right arrow Advance Access manuscript (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
23/3/482    most recent
msj057v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Klopfstein, S.
Right arrow Articles by Excoffier, L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Klopfstein, S.
Right arrow Articles by Excoffier, L.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Accepted October 19, 2005

Research Article

The Fate of Mutations Surfing on the Wave of a Range Expansion

Seraina Klopfstein 1, Mathias Currat 1, and Laurent Excoffier 1*

1 Computational and Molecular Population Genetics Lab, Institute of Zoology, University of Bern, Balzerstrasse 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Laurent Excoffier, E-mail: Laurent.excoffier{at}zoo.unibe.ch


  Abstract

Many species, including humans, have dramatically expanded their range in the past; and such range expansions had certainly an impact on their genetic diversity. For example, mutations arising in populations at the edge of a range expansion can sometimes surf on the wave of advance, and thus reach a larger spatial distribution and a much higher frequency than would be expected in stationary populations. We study here this surfing phenomenon in more details, by performing extensive computer simulations under a two-dimensional stepping-stone model. We find that the probability of survival of a new mutation depends to a large degree on its proximity to the edge of the wave. Demographic factors such as deme size, migration rate and local growth rate also influence the fate of these new mutations. We also find that the final spatial and frequency distribution depends on the local deme size of a subdivided population. This latter result is discussed in the light of human expansions in Europe, as it should allow one to distinguish between mutations having spread with Paleolithic or Neolithic expansions. By favoring the spread of new mutations, a consequence of the surfing phenomenon is to increase the rate of evolution of spatially expanding populations.

Keywords: Range expansion; stepping-stone; neutral mutation; genetic drift; simulation; Europe.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
L. B. Scheinfeldt, S. Biswas, J. Madeoy, C. F. Connelly, E. E. Schadt, and J. M. Akey
Population Genomic Analysis of ALMS1 in Humans Reveals a Surprisingly Complex Evolutionary History
Mol. Biol. Evol., June 1, 2009; 26(6): 1357 - 1367.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
K. B. Schroeder, M. Jakobsson, M. H. Crawford, T. G. Schurr, S. M. Boca, D. F. Conrad, R. Y. Tito, L. P. Osipova, L. A. Tarskaia, S. I. Zhadanov, et al.
Haplotypic Background of a Private Allele at High Frequency in the Americas
Mol. Biol. Evol., May 1, 2009; 26(5): 995 - 1016.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 GeneticsHome page
O. J. Burton and J. M. J. Travis
The Frequency of Fitness Peak Shifts Is Increased at Expanding Range Margins Due to Mutation Surfing
Genetics, June 1, 2008; 179(2): 941 - 950.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
O. Hallatschek, P. Hersen, S. Ramanathan, and D. R. Nelson
Genetic drift at expanding frontiers promotes gene segregation
PNAS, December 11, 2007; 104(50): 19926 - 19930.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
J. M. J. Travis, T. Munkemuller, O. J. Burton, A. Best, C. Dytham, and K. Johst
Deleterious Mutations Can Surf to High Densities on the Wave Front of an Expanding Population
Mol. Biol. Evol., October 1, 2007; 24(10): 2334 - 2343.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
F. Cruciani, R. La Fratta, B. Trombetta, P. Santolamazza, D. Sellitto, E. B. Colomb, J.-M. Dugoujon, F. Crivellaro, T. Benincasa, R. Pascone, et al.
Tracing Past Human Male Movements in Northern/Eastern Africa and Western Eurasia: New Clues from Y-Chromosomal Haplogroups E-M78 and J-M12
Mol. Biol. Evol., June 1, 2007; 24(6): 1300 - 1311.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
R. Biek, J. C. Henderson, L. A. Waller, C. E. Rupprecht, and L. A. Real
A high-resolution genetic signature of demographic and spatial expansion in epizootic rabies virus
PNAS, May 8, 2007; 104(19): 7993 - 7998.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ScienceHome page
M. Currat, L. Excoffier, W. Maddison, S. P. Otto, N. Ray, M. C. Whitlock, and S. Yeaman
Comment on "Ongoing Adaptive Evolution of ASPM, a Brain Size Determinant in Homo sapiens" and "Microcephalin, a Gene Regulating Brain Size, Continues to Evolve Adaptively in Humans"
Science, July 14, 2006; 313(5784): 172a - 172a.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.