title: Large global effective population sizes in Paramecium.
abstract: The genetic effective population size (N(e)) of a species is an important parameter for understanding evolutionary dynamics because it mediates the relative effects of selection. However, because most N(e) estimates for unicellular organisms are derived either from taxa with poorly understood species boundaries or from host-restricted pathogens and most unicellular species have prominent phases of clonal propagation potentially subject to strong selective sweeps, the hypothesis that N(e) is elevated in single-celled organisms remains controversial. Drawing from observations on well-defined species within the genus Paramecium, we report exceptionally high levels of silent-site polymorphism, which appear to be a reflection of large N(e).
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Indiana University, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Margaret S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Snoke
authors.forename: Thomas U
authors.initials: TU
authors.lastname: Berendonk
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barth
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lynch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D010247:Paramecium / Q000235:genetics*; D048489:Paramecium aurelia / Q000235:genetics; D048488:Paramecium caudatum / Q000235:genetics; D016805:Paramecium tetraurelia / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011156:Population Density