Seminar by Dr Jeffrey Peters: "Multilocus phylogeography: population structure, gene flow and selection in Anas ducks"

Multilocus phylogeography: population structure, gene flow and selection in Anas ducks

Speaker: Dr Jeffrey Peters (Wright State University, USA)
Date: Thursday 19 November 2009
Venue: Niven Library
Time: 13h00

Synopsis:
"My research program uses sequence data from multiple loci to examine the spatial arrangement of genetic diversity in co-distributed species of Anas ducks. These data suggest that Holarctic ducks have had idiosyncratic population histories and that levels of connectivity between Old World and New World populations vary considerably among species. Regardless of these differences, for 5 of the 6 species, the data suggest that males are more likely to disperse between continents than are females; thus, male-dispersal maintains species cohesion. A second focus of my research examines how natural selection acting on DNA influences our ability to infer population histories. Using the gadwall (Anas strepera) as a model, I found that selection has had a strong influence on non-coding DNA and that this influence biases estimates of population-level parameters. However, some signatures of history, such as relative differences in population sizes and differences in the direction of gene flow, are robust to the influence of selection. Collectively, these studies illustrate the need to examine multilocus datasets to delineate populations and to better understand how historical and contemporary processes have influenced populations. Future studies will include a multilocus analysis of community genetics for global duck populations."

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