title: Genetic robustness at the codon level as a measure of selection.
abstract: Selection at the DNA level is usually detected by analysing substitution rates from multiple-species comparisons. It has been suggested that measures of genetic robustness at the codon level, which can be measured by analysing a single coding sequence, can be used to estimate selection, but the validity of these measures has been questioned. Here I test the efficiency of different measures of genetic robustness at the codon level to estimate the level of selection acting on a gene. I find that volatility and other measures of robustness are correlated with dN/dS, and that this is not simply the effect of a preference for translationally optimal codons. I discuss the possible implications and the possible problems of these methods based on single-sequence codon usage analysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK. archetti@fas.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Archetti
mesh_terms: D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D003062:Codon; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D051379:Mice; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae; D012641:Selection, Genetic
chemical_list: D003062:Codon