Gene Genealogies, Variation and Evolution: A Primer in Coalescent Theory

Coalescent theory tells us what gene genealogies are expected to look like if populations have different demographic histories - i.e, population size, structure, etc. The aim of this book is to provide an accessible introduction to Coalescent Theory with a view towards data analysis. Coalescent Theory has in the last two decades moved from being an obscure technique that appealed to mathematical population geneticists to a central tool in data analysis of DNA sequences. The completion of the sequencing of the human genome and accompanying determination of SNPs and haplotypes will increase its importance even further. This textbook, rich in examples and illustrations, is suitable for a graduate course in statistics, population-, molecular-, and medical genetics.

Coalescent theory, now widely used in the study of genetic variations at the sequence level, once belonged on the fringes of research because of its mathematical challenges. However, Hein (U. of Oxford) and his co-authors believe anyone with a basic background in combinatorics and probability theory can use coalescence theory for modeling and for improving simulation algorithms. They describe the Wright-Fisher model, geometric distribution and exponential distribution to lead to a discrete-time coalescent based on the Kingman n-coalescent. They describe calculating simple quantities on a coalescent tree, determining the effective population size, working with the Moran model, moving from geneologies to sequences, developing trees and topologies, developing extensions to the basic coalescent and the coalescent with recombination, getting parameters from data, and mapping linkage disequilibrium. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

University of Oxford

University of Aarhus

University of Aarhus