A puzzling population-genetic phenomenon widely reported in allozyme
surveys of marine bivalves is the occurrence of heterozygote deficits
relative to Hardy-Weinberg expectations. Possible explanations for this
pattern are categorized with respect to whether the effects should be
confined to protein-level assays or are genomically pervasive and expected
to be registered in both protein- and DNA-level assays. Anonymous nuclear
DNA markers from the American oyster were employed to reexamine the
phenomenon. In assays based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), two
DNA-level processes were encountered that can lead to artifactual genotypic
scorings: (a) differential amplification of alleles at a target locus and
(b) amplification from multiple paralogous loci. We describe symptoms of
these complications and prescribe methods that should generally help to
ameliorate them. When artifactual scorings at two anonymous DNA loci in the
American oyster were corrected, Hardy-Weinberg deviations registered in
preliminary population assays decreased to nonsignificant values.
Implications of these findings for the heterozygote-deficit phenomenon in
marine bivalves, and for the general development and use of PCR-based
assays, are discussed.
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