title: Selective neutrality analysis of 17 STRs in Mediterranean populations.
abstract: Detection of genes that have been targeted by natural selection is a powerful tool for predicting regions of the genome potentially linked with diseases and of interest in the field of genetic epidemiology. In recent years, several methods to detect patterns of natural selection have been developed. In general, these tests are based on different assumptions and parameters; hence, the detection of outlier loci with more than one statistical approach simultaneously will support the candidate status of a particular locus. In this study, we evaluated the presence of patterns of positive selection in 17 short tandem repeat loci genotyped in six different human populations from the Mediterranean area, for a total of 429 individuals. To identify patterns of selective pressure, we applied three different neutrality tests on the basis of different models, performing pairwise comparisons between populations. Results show the presence of one marker, a (CA)n repeat located in exon 29 of the NOS1 gene, which seems significant in the three different tests in two pairwise comparisons: Sicily vs Morocco and Balearic Islands vs Morocco. This suggests that this locus and its genome localization are candidates for further studies to investigate selective pressure, as well as for association studies.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, University of Corsica, Corte, Corsica, France. is.piras@tiscali.it
authors.forename: Ignazio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Piras
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Falchi
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moral
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Paoli
authors.forename: Carla M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Calò
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vona
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Varesi
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D005828:Genetics, Population / Q000379:methods*; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study / Q000379:methods*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D009018:Morocco; D052248:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I / Q000235:genetics; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D012802:Sicily; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: C496320:NOS1 protein, human; D052248:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I