Interplay of interlocus gene conversion and crossover in segmental duplications under a neutral scenario

Interlocus gene conversion is a major evolutionary force that drives the concerted evolution of duplicated genomic regions. Theoretical models successfully have addressed the effects of interlocus gene conversion and the importance of crossover in the evolutionary fate of gene families and duplications but have not considered complex recombination scenarios, such as the presence of hotspots. To study the interplay between interlocus gene conversion and crossover, we have developed a forward-time simulator that allows the exploration of a wide range of interlocus gene conversion rates under different crossover models. Using it, we have analyzed patterns of nucleotide variation and linkage disequilibrium within and between duplicate regions, focusing on a neutral scenario with constant population size and validating our results with the existing theoretical models. We show that the interaction of gene conversion and crossover is nontrivial and that the location of crossover junctions is a fundamental determinant of levels of variation and linkage disequilibrium in duplicated regions. We also show that if crossover activity between duplications is strong enough, recurrent interlocus gene conversion events can break linkage disequilibrium within duplicates. Given the complex nature of interlocus gene conversion and crossover, we provide a framework to explore their interplay to help increase knowledge on molecular evolution within segmental duplications under more complex scenarios, such as demographic changes or natural selection. © 2014 Hartasánchez et al.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Hartasánchez Frenk, Diego, Vallès-Codina, Oriol, Brasó-Vives, Marina, Navarro, Arcadi
Other Authors:	Instituto Nacional de Bioinformática (España)
Format:	artículo biblioteca
Published:	Genetics Society of America 2014-08-01
Subjects:	Forward simulations, Recombination hotspots, Concerted evolution, Increased variation, Linkage disequilibrium,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10261/113280 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003141 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003339 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000780
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