Population genetics of Dagestan highlanders

Subdivision of some isolates and heterogenic populations in Daghestan is analysed by human gene and phen frequencies. Comparative population study of phenotypic variability of quantitative characters (anthropometric, neurodynamic and psychodynamic) is carried out. Common hierarchy of variability for all populations as well as an effect of inbreeding and panmixis on variability of the above-mentioned quantitative characters in different populations is demonstrated.     

Integral evaluation of the population variability of human behavioral markers

In eight human populations with different extent of isolation and different ethnic belonging, four groups of cues have been studied: Mendel and anthropogenetic markers, anthropometry, neurodynamics and psychodynamics. Integral estimates are obtained of phenotypic and genetic correlation of groups of anthropometric, neurodynamic and psychodynamic cues in examined populations. Their values vary significantly in different populations; in isolates they are higher than in heterogeneous populations. Multidimensional dispersion analysis of the studied groups of cues allows to establish significantly higher intrapopulation variability than interpopulation one (about 14%). The revealed interpopulation differences are presented in the form of generalized values of phenotypic and genetic resemblance of examined populations by four groups of cues.     

Multivariate genetic analysis of the neurodynamic and psychodynamic parameters in human populations

The first attempt at using multivariate genetic analysis to study the neurodynamic and psychodynamic levels of individual organization in Daghestan isolates is described. The absence of close similarity between dendrograms of templates of phenotypical and genotypical correlations is explained by lower heritability of the parameters under study. Interpopulation differences revealed by the multivariate genetic analysis are the result of differences in the genetic and social structures of the populations.     

Phenotypical and genetic differentiation of human populations for morphological and psychophysiological traits. Factor analysis

The multivariate genetic factor analysis is used, as first attempt, to study genetic bases of correlation variability of neurodynamic and psychodynamic levels of individual organization among isolates of Daghestan. Closer similarity between factors described in templates of phenotypic correlations is explained by lower heritability of the parameters under study. Interpopulation differences revealed by the multivariate genetic analysis are the result of differences in the genetic structure of the populations.     

Population genetics analysis of the association of sensitivity to phenylthiocarbamide and nervous system strength

The results of gene pool analysis of three Daghestan isolates for mendelian markers and multifactorial characters are presented. The neurodynamic status of persons with tt and T-phenotypes for sensitivity to phenylthiocarbamide is characterized.     

Phenotypic and genetic differentiation of human populations with respect to morphologic and psychophysiological traits

Four groups of human characters (mendelian markers, anthropometry, neurodynamics and psychodynamics) were studied in eight human populations characterized by different degrees of isolation and different ethnic backgrounds, and located in different ecological conditions. The populations examined were proved to display phenotypic and genetic differentiation for the studied groups of characters which were compared with linguistic and geographical distances. The role of genetic factors and that of environmental factors was shown to diminish and to increase, respectively, as the degree of complexity of expression of the group of characters under study (from anthropometry to psychodynamics) goes up.     

Influence of geophysical factors on the parameters of the human electroencephalogram

It has been shown that cerebral processes are characterized by fine physiological meteosensitivity. Under ordinary conditions, this manifests itself in correlations between human EEG parameters and the geophysical factors: wind regime, temperature, atmospheric pressure, and relative air humidity. The biometeorological properties of EEG rhythms of a human irrespective of age increase with their quickening in the order delta — theta — alpha — beta. The less the background expressiveness of the neurodynamic process, the sharper its meteosensitivity till a certain limit. The lack of a component of one neurodynamic process is filled up by the functional component of another.     

ENVIRONMENTAL AND GENETIC DETERMINANTS OF PLANT SIZE IN VIOLA SORORIA

Survivorship and fecundity in the forest herb, Viola sororia, are size-dependent. The basis of size variation among individuals of Viola sororia was investigated with a uniform environment experiment. Plants collected from natural populations were vegetatively reproduced and grown under two light regimes in a greenhouse. Analysis of quantitative variation showed: 1) significant differences between light treatments for characters related to plant shape and relative growth rate; 2) significant among-genet variation for plant size, plant shape and relative growth rate but none for physiological characters; and 3) a size threshold for cleistogamous seed production and rhizome production. Heritability estimates for the characters associated with plant size and shape ranged from 0.09 to 0.39, indicating significant genetic determination for these traits. In addition, among-genet differences in relative growth rate were substantial. The results of this study suggest that the size variation found in natural populations is not solely a function of environmental heterogeneity but is significantly influenced by the genotypes composing the population.     

Le benthos subtidal de l'estuaire de la seine: Analyse statistique des peuplements

The analysis of benthic populations in the estuary of the Seine was realized from samples collected with a sediment pump (summer 1978, winter 1979). Coherent results were obtained using Principal Coordinates Analysis applied to the definition of statistical communities (R mode) or the determination of biotopes (Q mode). The best ecological interpretation arises from the estimation of specific dominances in each of the environments (seven biotopes and four different populations). The difference between this classification and the one obtained from demographic characters (summer continuum and tendency to differentiated populations in winter) shows, however, that there are no clear boundaries separating biotopes or populations. Instead, there is a more or less pronounced overlap of different niches for the benthos of the Seine estuary.     

Integral evaluation of phenotypic and genotypic variability of morphologic and psychophysiologic human traits

The paper demonstrates the expedience of the developed populational-genetic approach to studying the genetic bases of a complex of quantitative characters pertaining to different levels of human organization: anthropometry, neurodynamics and psychodynamics. The studies were carried out in eight human populations of different degree of isolation and ethnical background. It is shown that correlation phenotypic variability is higher for these characters, as compared to genotypic variability, the number of general genes responsible for this variability being decreased, respectively.     

Selection by humans searching for computer- generated prey images: the effect of prey density

We investigated the effect of 'prey' density on frequency-dependent selection by human 'predators'. Eighty subjects were presented with computer-generated populations of two cryptically coloured characters on the screen of a colour monitor. Each subject was given the prey at a single combination of one of two frequencies and one of five densities, and was instructed to delete the prey as fast as possible with a light-pen. The results suggested that the degree of selection was inversely proportional to prey density, but there was no evidence that any frequency-dependent component of selection was affected.     

DIFFERENTIATION AMONG NINE POPULATIONS OF PHLOX. I. ELECTROPHORETIC AND QUANTITATIVE VARIATION

The organization of genetic variation in Phlox drummondii was investigated using both allozyme electrophoresis and quantitative genetics. Variation at five polymorphic enzyme loci was characterized in nine populations, and variation in 16 morphological and life-history characters was examined using an analysis of full- and half-sibs in seven populations. Significant levels of genetic variation were found at enzyme loci and for metric characters. Significant heritabilities were observed for 15 of the 16 characters examined. Genetic differences among populations were revealed both by Nei's genetic distance and by phenotypic differences, summarized by discriminant analysis. Partitioning variance in allozyme frequencies among hierarchical levels of genetic organization indicated that 94% of this variance lay within populations, 4% between populations within varieties, and 2% between varieties. Partitioning phenotypic variance for metric characters indicated that 73% lay within populations, 24% lay between populations within varieties, and 3% lay between varieties. Thus, both electrophoretic and metric characters indicated that despite extensive genetic differentiation among populations, most of the evolutionary potential of the species lies within populations.     

Identity by descent and DNA sequence variation of human SINE and LINE elements

To test the hypothesis that Alu and L1 elements are genetic characters that are essentially homoplasy-free, we sequenced a total of five human L1 elements and eleven recently integrated Alu elements from 160 chromosomes (80 individuals representing four diverse human populations). Analysis of worldwide samples at L1 loci revealed 292 segregating sites and a nucleotide diversity of 0.0050. For Ya5 Alu loci, there were 129 segregating sites and nucleotide diversity was estimated at 0.0045. The Alu and L1 sequence diversity varied element to element. No completely or partially deleted Alu or L1 alleles were identified during the analysis. These data suggest that mobile element insertions are identical by descent characters for the study of human population genetics.     

Genetic analysis of ecologically relevant morphological variability in Plantago lanceolata L.

Summary Morphological variability was studied in two populations of Plantago lanceolata using diallel analysis. In each population, reciprocal crosses between all possible pairs of ten plants were made. In the greenhouse, six members of each family were grown and many characters were measured. Using the model of Cockerham and Weir, the contributions of the different genetic variance components were calculated. From earlier papers it was postulated in advance to what extent and by which effect the characters in both populations were genetically determined. The populations had been differentiated for life history and morphological characters, and varied also in the relative contribution of genetic components to variability. In the Merrevliet (Me) population, where strong biotic selection was assumed, low levels of additive-genetic variability were present and the relative dominance appeared to be high. The contrasting population, Westduinen (Wd), which is abiotically controlled and shows strong environmental variability, possessed higher levels of additive-genetic variability and lower levels of relative dominance. It is possible that differential natural selection has diminished additive-genetic variability to different extents in both populations: plasticity and environmental heterogeneity prevented the loss of additive-genetic variability in Wd, whereas in the stable population, Me, natural selection had the opportunity of not only changing the means of the characters but also of diminishing additive-genetic variability to a great extent.Grassland Species Research Group Publication No. 146     

Evaluation of some methods for hybrid analysis, exemplified by hybridization in Argyrantheimim (Asteraceae)

A grouping of transformations is proposed: 1) "Element transformations", aimed at changing relations between elements within a single character vector; and 2) "vector transformations", aimed at changing relations between different character vectors. Logarithmic element transformation seemed suitable for revealing variation in size characters.
Principal coordinate analysis (PCO) was appropriate for determination of dimensionality and structural extremes (parentage). Due to polynomial distortions, however, variation in extreme populations was underestimated and variation in intermediate populations exaggerated.
A "character index", the mean of a specimen's ranged characters, is suggested to replace Anderson's hybrid index. Knowledge of parentage and parental maxima, but not of variation in pure parental populations, is required. The character index combined with modified Gay triangles was found suitable for revealing the structure of the material, which showed mainly one-dimensional variation. The material analysed comprised Argyranthemum broussonetü, A. frutescens , a hybrid swarm and experimental F₁ hybrids between these species; and A. sundingü , which was found to be a stabilized hybrid derivative, probably evolved by hybrid speciation with external barriers.     

Morphological variations of Caragana microphylla populations in the Xilingol steppe and their relationship with environmental factors

The morphological variations of branches, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds of Caragana microphylla and their correlations with environmental factors were analyzed based on five natural populations in the Xilingol steppe, Inner Mongolia, China. Nested variation analysis showed that there were significant differences in all of the 28 morphological characters within and among populations in 16 morphological characters, and the variations within populations were much greater than those among populations in most morphological characters. Cluster analysis showed that the five populations of C. microphylla could be divided into two groups in morphological characters, and there was significant positive correlation between the divergence of morphological characters matrix and geographical distance matrix. Principal component analysis showed that leaflet length, area of a compound leaf, fresh-mass of a compound leaf, and shoot fresh-mass were main morphological characters that varied among C. microphylla populations. Spearman correlation analysis showed that there were significant correlations between some morphological characters and soil factors. Soil N:P ratio, available N content, total N content, organic matter content and soil water content were main factors that were associated with morphological characters of C. microphylla.     

Variation in growth of overwintered stolons of contrasting white clover populations in response to temperature, photoperiod and spring environment

The response of overwintered stolons of nine contrasting white clover populations to temperature, photoperiod and natural conditions was studied in six environments during the spring. Rate of leaf appearance, leaflet length, petiole length, stolon internode length, dry matter distribution within the plant and total dry weight were measured on 15 plants of each population/environment combination. Most characters, except leaf size and proportion of dry matter allocated to leaf, responded positively to temperature in the range 10 – 20°C. A positive effect of photoperiod extension was also found for all characters except rate of leaf appearance, internode length and distribution of dry matter to leaf. Population differences in response to environment were found which were related to both leaf size classification and origin. Stolon dry weight was positively correlated with leaf length, petiole length and stolon internode length in most environments. The relationships between the eight characters were often complex and canonical variate analysis provided a convenient way to discriminate between the populations based on all eight characters.     

Morphological variations of Caragana microphylla populations in the Xilingol steppe and their relationship with environmental factors

The morphological variations of branches, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds of Caragana microphylla and their correlations with environmental factors were analyzed based on five natural populations in the Xilingol steppe, Inner Mongolia, China. Nested variation analysis showed that there were significant differences in all of the 28 morphological characters within and among populations in 16 morphological characters, and the variations within populations were much greater than those among populations in most morphological characters. Cluster analysis showed that the five populations of C. microphylla could be divided into two groups in morphological characters, and there was significant positive correlation between the divergence of morphological characters matrix and geographical distance matrix. Principal component analysis showed that leaflet length, area of a compound leaf, fresh-mass of a compound leaf, and shoot fresh-mass were main morphological characters that varied among C. microphylla populations. Spearman correlation analysis showed that there were significant correlations between some morphological characters and soil factors. Soil N:P ratio, available N content, total N content, organic matter content and soil water content were main factors that were associated with morphological characters of C. microphylla.     

Sex determination using the femur in an ancient Japanese population

Determination of sex from the femur measurements has been attempted in several populations and various studies have demonstrated the importance of population specific standards in the metric assessment of sex. The present study attempts to establish metric standards for sex determination by using femur measurements for ancient Japanese populations. Osteometric data were obtained from 151 adult skeletal remains from Jomon period, Yoshigo human skeletal collection. Eight femur measurements were taken and the data were analyzed by discriminant analysis using SPSS version 10.0. For the univariate discriminant function derived, precision of sex determination was 93% with the condyle breadth. Prediction values showed that sex differentiation could be done by femur measurements with reliability between 66.9 and 100%, with values for males higher than for females. It is suggested that discriminant formulas developed by femur measurements in this study, can be used for sex determination accurately on fragmentary skeletal remains in ancient Japanese populations.