title: African Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans populations have similar levels of sequence variability, suggesting comparable effective population sizes.
abstract: Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans are two closely related species with a similar distribution range. Many studies suggested that D. melanogaster has a smaller effective population size than D. simulans. As most evidence was derived from non-African populations, we readdressed this question by sequencing 10 X-linked loci in five African D. simulans and six African D. melanogaster populations. Contrary to previous results, we found no evidence for higher variability, and thus larger effective population size, in D. simulans. Our observation of similar levels of variability of both species will have important implications for the interpretation of patterns of molecular evolution.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Tierzucht und Genetik, Veterinärmedizinische Universität, A-1210 Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: Viola
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nolte
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schlötterer
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D040961:Genetic Drift; D014644:Genetic Variation; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium / Q000235:genetics; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D011156:Population Density; D011157:Population Dynamics