HE number of bristles on the scutellum of Drosophila is characteristically Tfour. Flies occur infrequently which have more or less than four bristles. PAYNE (1918) selected for increase of the number of scutellar bristles, producing, after several generations of selection, flies with many extra scutellars. This showed that there was considerable unexpressed genetic variation for number of scute...

Examining and comparing genetic variation for major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and micro-satellite (MS) loci in the same individuals provides an opportunity to understand the forces influencing genetic variation. We examined five MHC and three MS loci in 235 bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) from 14 populations and found that both types of loci were highly variable and were in Hardy-Weinber...

Rapidly evolving non-coding plastid regions (NCPs) are currently widely used in evolutionary biology especially in plant systematic studies where NCPs have become one of the most commonly used tools in clarifying species relationships. Currently, the generally small amount of sequence variation provided by NCPs compared to nuclear regions makes plastid phylogeny reconstruction challenging at th...

In this study, inter- and intraspecific genetic diversity within the marine harmful dinoflagellate genus Coolia Meunier was evaluated using isolates obtained from the tropics to subtropics in both Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins. The aim was to assess the phylogeographic history of the genus and to clarify the validity of established species including Coolia malayensis. Phylogenetic analysis ...

Sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers were used to assess the genetic diversity and relationship among 58 faba bean (Vicia faba L.) genotypes. Fourteen SRAP primer combinations amplified a total of 1036 differently sized well-resolved peaks (fragments), of which all were polymorphic with a 0.96 PIC value and discriminated all of the 58 faba bean genotypes. An average pairwise ...

The extreme polymorphism of the vertebrate major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) is famous for protecting hosts against constantly evolving pathogens. Mate choice is often evoked as a means of maintaining Mhc variability through avoidance of partners with similar Mhc alleles or preference for heterozygotes. Evidence for these two hypotheses mostly comes from studies on humans and laboratory mi...

Sexual selection through female mate choice for genetic characteristics has been suggested to be an important evolutionary force maintaining genetic variation in animal populations. However, the genetic targets of female mate choice are not clearly identified and whether female mate choice is based on neutral genetic characteristics or on particular functional loci remains an open question. Her...

According to the nearly-neutral theory of evolution, the relative strengths of selection and drift shift in favour of drift at small population sizes. Numerous studies have analysed the effect of bottlenecks and small population sizes on genetic diversity in the MHC, which plays a central role in pathogen recognition and immune defense and is thus considered a model example for the study of ada...

Genetic diversity, especially at genes important for immune functioning within the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC), has been associated with fitness-related traits, including disease resistance, in many species. Recently, genetic diversity has been associated with mate preferences in humans. Here we asked whether these preferences are adaptive in terms of obtaining healthier mates. We in...

Pathogen-driven selection can favour major histocompatibility complex (MHC) alleles that confer immunological resistance to specific diseases. However, strong directional selection should deplete genetic variation necessary for robust immune function in the absence of balancing selection or challenges presented by other pathogens. We examined selection dynamics at one MHC class II (MHC-II) locu...