title: Intron size correlates positively with recombination rate in Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: A negative correlation between intron size and recombination rate has been reported for the Drosophila melanogaster and human genomes. Population-genetic models suggest that this pattern could be caused by an interaction between recombination rate and the efficacy of natural selection. To test this idea, we examined variation in intron size and recombination rate across the genome of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Interestingly, we found that intron size correlated positively with recombination rate in this species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine 04011, USA.
authors.forename: Anuphap
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prachumwat
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: DeVincentis
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Palopoli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics*; D002875:Chromosomes; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D016678:Genome; D007438:Introns; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008957:Models, Genetic; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D013223:Statistics as Topic