title: Adaptive and slightly deleterious evolution in a conifer, Cryptomeria japonica.
abstract: In order to evaluate effects of the population structure and natural selection on organisms having long generation times, we surveyed DNA polymorphisms at five loci encoding 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED), ammonium transporter, calmodulin, aquaporin, and the second major allergen with polymethylgalacturonase enzyme activity in the pollen (Cryj2) in a conifer, Cryptomeria japonica. The average nucleotide diversity at silent sites across 12 loci including the previously analyzed seven loci was 0.0044. The population recombination rate (4Nr, where N and r are the effective population size and recombination rate per base per generation, respectively) was estimated as 0.00046 and a slow reduction in the population size was indicated, according to the maximum likelihood method implemented in LAMARC. At NCED, the McDonald-Kreitman (MK) test revealed an excess of replacement polymorphisms, suggesting contributions of slightly deleterious mutations. In contrast, the MK test revealed an excess of replacement divergence at Cryj2 and a maximum likelihood approach using the PAML package revealed that certain amino acid sites had a nonsynonymous/synonymous substitution rate ratio (omega) > 4.0, indicating adaptive evolution at this locus. The overall analysis of the 12 loci suggested that adaptive, neutral, and slightly deleterious evolution played important roles in the evolution of C. japonica.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, Ropponmatsu, Fukuoka, 810-8560, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kado
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshimaru
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsumura
authors.forename: Hidenori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tachida
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D001483:Base Sequence; D032485:Cryptomeria / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D011336:Probability; D011995:Recombination, Genetic / Q000235:genetics