A snail with unbiased population sex ratios but highly biased brood sex ratios

Extraordinary sex ratio patterns and the underlying sex-determining mechanisms in various organisms are worth investigating, particularly because they shed light on adaptive sex-ratio adjustment. Here, we report an extremely large variation in the brood sex ratio in the freshwater snail, Pomacea canaliculata. In eight rearing series originating from three wild populations, sex ratios were highly variable among broods, ranging continuously from almost exclusively males to almost exclusively females. However, sex ratios were similar between broods from the same mating pair, indicating that sex ratio is a family trait. Irrespective of the large variations, the average sex ratios in all rearing series were not significantly different from 0.5. We argue that Fisher's adaptive sex-ratio theory can explain the equal average sex ratios, and the results, in turn, directly support Fisher's theory. Polyfactorial sex determination (in which sex is determined by three or more genetic factors) is suggested as the most likely mechanism producing the variable brood sex ratio.     

A generalized transport model for biased cell migration in an anisotropic environment

 A generalized transport model is derived for cell migration in an anisotropic environment and is applied to the specific cases of biased cell migration in a gradient of a stimulus (taxis; e.g., chemotaxis or haptotaxis) or along an axis of anisotropy (e.g., contact guidance). The model accounts for spatial or directional dependence of cell speed and cell turning behavior to predict a constitutive cell flux equation with drift velocity and diffusivity tensor (termed random motility tensor) that are explicit functions of the parameters of the underlying random walk model. This model provides the connection between cell locomotion and the resulting persistent random walk behavior to the observed cell migration on longer time scales, thus it provides a framework for interpreting cell migration data in terms of underlying motility mechanisms. Received: 8 April 1999     

Fine-mapping of an Arabidopsis cell death mutation locus

An Arabidopsis cell death mutation locus was mapped to chromosome 2 between /GS1 and mi421. The YAC clone ends, CIC9A3R, CIC11C7L, CIC2G5R and RFLP marker CDs3 within this interval, were used to probe TAMU BAC library and 31 BAC clones were obtained. A BAC contig encompassing the mutation locus, which consists of T6P5, T7M23, T12A21, T8L6 and T18A18, was identified by Southern hybridization with the BAC ends as probes. 11 CAPS and 12 STS markers were developed in this region. These results will facilitate map-based cloning of the genes and sequencing of the genomic DNA in this region.     

A null mutation at the mouse Phosphoglucomutase-1 locus and a new locus,Pgm-3

A null mutation at the phosphoglucomutase locus (Pgm-1) was discovered by electrophoretic analysis of the inbred mouse strain C57 BL/6J. The null allele (Pgm-1 ⁿ) was shown to segregate as a Mendelian unit alternative to the Pgm-1 ^a and Pgm-1 ^b alleles. Mice expressing the Pgm-1 ⁿ allele, either in the heterozygous or homozygous state, are viable, healthy, and fertile. The occurrence of the Pgm-1 ⁿ mutant revealed a previously unreported genetic locus (Pgm-3) that controls the expression of a third phosphoglucomutase. Two electrophoretically expressed alleles of Pgm-3 (inherited without dominance) are found in the inbred mouse strains C57 BL/6J and DBA/2J. Linkage observed between the Pgm-3 locus, the dilute locus (d) and the cytoplasmic malic enzyme locus (Mod-1) has allowed assignment of the Pgm-3 locus to chromosome 9. A striking tissue specific expression of Pgm-1 and Pgm-3 was observed. Products of the Pgm-3 locus were detected in kidney, testes, brain, and heart. In contrast, Pgm-1 controlled isozymes were present in kidney, spleen, ovaries, and erythrocytes.Financial support for this work was provided in part by Contract #263-78-C-0393 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to the Research Triangle Institute.     

A new fitness function and its application on a five locus model

Summary A new fitness function is proposed. It is a balance function which results from a combination of a turnover function defining the expression of favourable genetic factors and a cost function describing the costs of metabolism. A favourable genetic factor is defined as the heterozygote state at a locus. Five loci with two alleles each are considered. In computer simulations various kinds of this function are investigated. Their influence on the genetic composition of a population in equilibrium, the number and types of equilibria and the mean fitness are reported. Free recombination and tight linkage are considered.     

Duplicational mutation at the Duchenne muscular dystrophy locus: its frequency, distribution, origin, and phenotypegenotype correlation.

Partial gene deletion is the major cause of mutation leading to Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD). Partial gene duplication has also been recognized in a few cases. We have conducted a survey for duplication in 72 unrelated nondeletion patients, analyzed by Southern blot hybridization with clones representing the entire DMD cDNA. With careful quantitative analysis of hybridization band intensity, 10 cases were found to carry a duplication of part of the gene, a frequency of 14% for nondeletion cases (10/72), or 6% for all cases (10/181). The extent of these duplications has been characterized according to the published exon-containing HindIII fragment map, and in six of the 10 duplications a novel restriction fragment that spanned the duplication junction was detected. The resulting translational reading frame of mRNA has been predicted for nine duplications. A shift of the reading frame was predicted in four of the six DMD cases and in one of the two intermediate cases, while the reading frame remained uninterrupted in both BMD cases. RFLP and quantitative Southern blot analyses revealed a grandpaternal origin of duplication in four families and grandmaternal origin in one family. In all five families, the duplication was found to originate from a single X chromosome. Unequal sister-chromatid exchange is proposed to be the mechanism for the formation of these duplications.     

A model for biased diffusion of collagenase along collagen fibrils

We present a model to describe the biased diffusion of a collagenase along collagen fibrils. Based on the structures of collagen fibril and collagenase, the interaction is described by a one-dimensional potential that is symmetric in the region of no cleavage and asymmetric in the cleavage region. We show that the mean velocity of the unidirectional diffusion of the collagenase depends on the three parameters: the asymmetric ratio of the local potential in the cleavage region, the chemical reaction rate of proteolysis and the jumping rate of collagenase between two neighboring tracks. We calculate the correlation function and the mean transport velocity for both wild-type and mutant collagenases along collagen fibrils, the results of which are consistent with the previous experiments.     

A genetic model with mutation and selection

Two deterministic models of a multiallele population in which mutation and selection both operate are considered, and formulae for the gene frequencies are obtained. Both models are of a diploid population in which selection is additive and mutation is general; generations are discrete and nonoverlapping. In the first model, the stationary solution of the discrete equations is found. In the second, the discrete time process is approximated by a continuous time one, and the resulting differential equations are solved. The transient case for two alleles is solved explicitly, and the results are graphed. An application is given to sequences of sites.     

Restricted best linear unbiased prediction and a selection model

Summary An equivalence between restricted best linear unbiased prediction (and thus restricted selection index) and a particular example of a selection model is presented. Specifically, the equivalence is between restricted selection and a model of selection on the residuals of the general mixed linear model. This result illustrates that restricted selection acts by nonrandomly sampling those genes that act pleiotropically in multiple trait genetic models. An expression for a mixed linear model which includes restrictions is also presented.     

A biased random walk model for the trajectories of swimming micro-organisms

The motion of swimming micro-organisms that have a preferred direction of travel, such as single-celled algae moving upwards (gravitaxis) or towards a light source (phototaxis), is modelled as the continuous limit of a correlated and biased random walk as the time step tends to zero. This model leads to a Fokker-Planck equation for the probability distribution function of the orientation of the cells, from which macroscopic parameters such as the mean cell swimming direction and the diffusion coefficient due to cell swimming can be calculated. The model is tested on experimental data for gravitaxis and phototaxis and used to derive values for the macroscopic parameters for future use in theories of bioconvection, for example.     

The frequency spectrum of a mutation,and its age,in a general diffusion model

General formulae are derived for the probability density and expected age of a mutation of frequency x in a population, and similarly for a mutation with b copies in a sample of n genes. A general formula is derived for the frequency spectrum of a mutation in a sample. Variable population size models are included. Results are derived in two frameworks: diffusion process models for the frequency of the mutation; and birth and death process models. The coalescent structure within the mutant gene group and the non-mutant group is considered.     

A test for selection employing quantitative trait locus and mutation accumulation data

Evolutionary biologists attribute much of the phenotypic diversity observed in nature to the action of natural selection. However, for many phenotypic traits, especially quantitative phenotypic traits, it has been challenging to test for the historical action of selection. An important challenge for biologists studying quantitative traits, therefore, is to distinguish between traits that have evolved under the influence of strong selection and those that have evolved neutrally. Most existing tests for selection employ molecular data, but selection also leaves a mark on the genetic architecture underlying a trait. In particular, the distribution of quantitative trait locus (QTL) effect sizes and the distribution of mutational effects together provide information regarding the history of selection. Despite the increasing availability of QTL and mutation accumulation data, such data have not yet been effectively exploited for this purpose. We present a model of the evolution of QTL and employ it to formulate a test for historical selection. To provide a baseline for neutral evolution of the trait, we estimate the distribution of mutational effects from mutation accumulation experiments. We then apply a maximum-likelihood-based method of inference to estimate the range of selection strengths under which such a distribution of mutations could generate the observed QTL. Our test thus represents the first integration of population genetic theory and QTL data to measure the historical influence of selection.     

Selection and mutation at a diallelic X-linked locus

Equilibria and convergence of gene frequencies are studied in the case of a diallelic X-linked locus under the influence of selection and mutation. The model used is that of an infinite diploid population with nonoverlapping discrete generations and random mating. It is proved that if the mutation rates and fitnesses are constant and the mutation rates are less than one-third, then global convergence of gene frequencies to equilibria occurs. The phase portraits of the dynamical system describing the change of allelic frequencies from one generation to the next are determined. Convergence of gene frequencies is monotone from a certain generation on if every other generation is skipped. In the case without mutation, our proof of this monotone convergence simplifies G. Palm's original proof [37].     

Critical comments on the one recent DNA bending model and its fit to electrophoretic data

The approach of Calladine, Drew and McCall (J. Mol. Biol 201, 127-137, 1988) for the investigation of DNA curvature has been analyzed. The authors relate their bending parameters to the experimental data on the basis of a new method of predicting electrophoretic anomalies from the trajectory of helical axis. This method of treating the DNA superhelix as a rigid body seems to be hardly applicable to the cases when superhelical turn is longer than or comparable to persistence length of straight DNA (approximately 150 bp). The extrapolation of experimental curves to plateau, done in a number of cases, seems somewhat arbitrary. Besides, alternative angle sets (e.g., with the roll angle on the AA step not equal to zero) having the same or even better fit to experimental data can be found even within the framework of the proposed approach. Another serious drawback of the model is its inability to account for new data (H.-S. Koo and D.M. Crothers. PNAS 85, 1763-1767, 1988), the predicted values of relative anomaly on (N8A6N5A6N4A6N7) multimers amounting to thousands.     

Complex mutation at a microsatellite locus in sturgeons: Acipenser sinensis, A. schrenckii, A. gueldenstaedtii and A. baerii

Cross‐species amplifications of microsatellite locus Spl‐106, which was originally screened from the genome of shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) with a perfect TAGA repeat motif, were carried out in four other species of the genera Acipenser. A total of 34 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products representing 16 different alleles of this locus was sequenced. Sequence analysis results showed that besides the number changes of repeat units, many mutational events, such as single‐base substitutions and various insertion/deletion (indels) occurred not only at species level but also at individual level, even among the different alleles within the same individual. The repeat motifs varied from perfect (TAGA)n array to perfect compound (TAAA)m (GAAA)n and perfect or imperfect compound (TAAA)m (TAGA)n (TAAA)x arrays in different species and different individuals. The evolution dynamics of this locus in sturgeons was inferred in that it may evolve from a single perfect to different perfect or imperfect compounds.