This is the first of a planned two-volume work discussing the mathematical aspects of population genetics with an emphasis on evolutionary theory. This volume draws heavily from the author’s 1979 classic, but it has been revised and expanded to include recent topics which follow naturally from the treatment in the earlier edition, such as the theory of molecular population genetics.
This is the first of a planned two-volume work discussing the mathematical aspects of population genetics with an emphasis on evolutionary theory. This volume draws heavily from the author’s 1979 classic, but it has been revised and expanded to include recent topics which follow naturally from the treatment in the earlier edition, such as the theory of molecular population genetics.
The present monograph develops a versatile and profound mathematical perspective of the Wright--Fisher model of population genetics. This well-known and intensively studied model carries a rich and beautiful mathematical structure, which is uncovered here in a systematic manner. In addition to approaches by means of analysis, combinatorics and PDE, a geometric perspective is brought in through Amari's and Chentsov's information geometry. This concept allows us to calculate many quantities of interest systematically; likewise, the employed global perspective elucidates the stratification of the model in an unprecedented manner. Furthermore, the links to statistical mechanics and large deviation theory are explored and developed into powerful tools. Altogether, the manuscript provides a solid and broad working basis for graduate students and researchers interested in this field.
Introductory guide to human population genetics and microevolutionary theory Providing an introduction to mathematical population genetics, Human Population Genetics gives basic background on the mechanisms of human microevolution. This text combines mathematics, biology, and anthropology and is best suited for advanced undergraduate and graduate study. Thorough and accessible, Human Population Genetics presents concepts and methods of population genetics specific to human population study, utilizing uncomplicated mathematics like high school algebra and basic concepts of probability to explain theories central to the field. By describing changes in the frequency of genetic variants from one generation to the next, this book hones in on the mathematical basis of evolutionary theory. Human Population Genetics includes: Helpful formulae for learning ease Graphs and analogies that make basic points and relate the evolutionary process to mathematical ideas Glossary terms marked in boldface within the book the first time they appear In-text citations that act as reference points for further research Exemplary case studies Topics such as Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, inbreeding, mutation, genetic drift, natural selection, and gene flow Human Population Genetics solidifies knowledge learned in introductory biological anthropology or biology courses and makes it applicable to genetic study. NOTE: errata for the first edition can be found at the author's website: http://employees.oneonta.edu/relethjh/HPG/errata.pdf
The rise of the neutral theory of molecular evolution seems to have aroused a renewed interest in mathematical population genetics among biologists, who are primarily experimenters rather than theoreticians. This has encouraged me to set out the mathematics of the evolutionary process in a manner that, I hope, will be comprehensible to those with only a basic knowledge of calculus and matrix algebra. I must acknowledge from the start my great debt to my students. Equipped initially with rather limited mathematics, they have pursued the subject with much enthusiasm and success. This has enabled me to try a number of different approaches over the years. I was particularly grateful to Dr L. J. Eaves and Professor W. E. Nance for the opportunity to give a one-semester course at the Medical College of Virginia, and I would like to thank them, their colleagues and their students for the many kindnesses shown to me during my visit. I have concentrated almost entirely on stochastic topics, since these cause the greatest problems for non-mathematicians. The latter are particularly concerned with the range of validity of formulae. A sense of confidence in applying these formulae is, almost certainly, best gained by following their derivation. I have set out proofs in fair detail, since, in my experience, minor points of algebraic manipulation occasionally cause problems. To avoid loss of continuity, I have sometimes put material in notes at the end of chapters.
Population Genetics of Multiple Loci F. B. Christiansen University of Aarhus, Denmark "This is a very beautiful and powerful study of an area that Christiansen has dominated for many years." - Marcus Feldman, Stanford University, USA Population genetics thrives on the constant interaction between theoretical and empirical knowledge. In the first instance, population genetics was developed using one-locus, two-allele models for genetic variation. The simplicity of these models opened up theoretical developments in population and evolutionary genetics to biologists without specialist training in mathematics. Population genetics of multi-allelic loci is more complex and requires more mathematical insight, and its study is predominantly undertaken by mathematical biologists. Traditional formulations of multi-locus theory do not simplify by assuming two alleles per locus. In this elegant presentation the author provides a formulation of multi-locus population genetics that retains the simplicity of two-allele models. * Provides an accessible and natural extension of classical population genetics to multiple loci * Exposes the population genetic aspects of sexual reproduction * Describes the complexity of evolutionary interactions among genes * Provides the background for insight into the functioning of genetic algorithms applied in computer science * Written by a world leader in the field The book is divided into two main sections. Part I - Recombination and Segregation - includes coverage of random mating, inbreeding, migration and mixing. Part II - Selection - covers numerous phenomena involving natural selection including viability, fertility, mutation and migration. The author has successfully presented the theory in a way that is intelligible to anyone with a reasonably good background in basic mathematics and is devoted to learning multiple loci population genetics. The text is primarily aimed at advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers interested in genetics and population biology. It is also essential reading for those working or researching in biomathematics and adaptive computing.
Mathematical methods have been applied successfully to population genet ics for a long time. Even the quite elementary ideas used initially proved amazingly effective. For example, the famous Hardy-Weinberg Law (1908) is basic to many calculations in population genetics. The mathematics in the classical works of Fisher, Haldane and Wright was also not very complicated but was of great help for the theoretical understanding of evolutionary pro cesses. More recently, the methods of mathematical genetics have become more sophisticated. In use are probability theory, stochastic processes, non linear differential and difference equations and nonassociative algebras. First contacts with topology have been established. Now in addition to the tra ditional movement of mathematics for genetics, inspiration is flowing in the opposite direction, yielding mathematics from genetics. The present mono grapll reflects to some degree both patterns but especially the latter one. A pioneer of this synthesis was S. N. Bernstein. He raised-and partially solved- -the problem of characterizing all stationary evolutionary operators, and this work was continued by the author in a series of papers (1971-1979). This problem has not been completely solved, but it appears that only cer tain operators devoid of any biological significance remain to be addressed. The results of these studies appear in chapters 4 and 5. The necessary alge braic preliminaries are described in chapter 3 after some elementary models in chapter 2.
The advances made possible by the development of molecular techniques have in recent years revolutionized quantitative genetics and its relevance for population genetics. Population Genetics and Microevolutionary Theory takes a modern approach to population genetics, incorporating modern molecular biology, species-level evolutionary biology, and a thorough acknowledgment of quantitative genetics as the theoretical basis for population genetics. Logically organized into three main sections on population structure and history, genotype-phenotype interactions, and selection/adaptation Extensive use of real examples to illustrate concepts Written in a clear and accessible manner and devoid of complex mathematical equations Includes the author's introduction to background material as well as a conclusion for a handy overview of the field and its modern applications Each chapter ends with a set of review questions and answers Offers helpful general references and Internet links
This work reflects sixteen hours of lectures delivered by the author at the 2009 St Flour summer school in probability. It provides a rapid introduction to a range of mathematical models that have their origins in theoretical population genetics. The models fall into two classes: forwards in time models for the evolution of frequencies of different genetic types in a population; and backwards in time (coalescent) models that trace out the genealogical relationships between individuals in a sample from the population. Some, like the classical Wright-Fisher model, date right back to the origins of the subject. Others, like the multiple merger coalescents or the spatial Lambda-Fleming-Viot process are much more recent. All share a rich mathematical structure. Biological terms are explained, the models are carefully motivated and tools for their study are presented systematically.
