What we're reading: Detecting selection with allele frequencies over time, male function in reproductive isolation, and making the jump to programming

Reading Room, Central Library in Copley Square
In the journals
Nishino J. 2013. Detecting selection using time-series data of allele frequencies with multiple independent reference loci. G3. 3:2151-2161. doi: 10.1534/g3.113.008276.

Recently, in 2013 Feder et al. proposed the frequency increment test (FIT), which evaluates natural selection at a single diallelic locus by the use of time-series data of allele frequencies. … Here, we expand upon the FIT by introducing a test that explicitly allows for changes in population size by using information from independent reference loci.

Aagaard JE, George RD, Fishman L, MacCoss MJ, Swanson WJ. 2013. Selection on plant male function genes identifies candidates for reproductive isolation of yellow monkeyflowers. PLoS Genetics 9(12): e1003965. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1003965.

We use isotopic labeling in combination with shotgun proteomics to identify more than 2,000 male function (pollen tube) proteins within maternal reproductive structures (styles) of M. guttatus flowers where pollen competition occurs. We then sequence array-captured pollen tube exomes from a large outcrossing population of M. guttatus, and identify those genes with evidence of selective sweeps or balancing selection consistent with their role in pollen competition.

In the news
Nature takes a look at its own representation of women in science.
What do you do when your standards, as a peer reviewer, are higher than the standards of the journal you’re reviewing for?
How wet lab scientists have made the transition from lab work to programming.
Is the missing heritability for human psychological traits … just not actually there?

About Jeremy Yoder

Jeremy B. Yoder is an Associate Professor of Biology at California State University Northridge, studying the evolution and coevolution of interacting species, especially mutualists. He is a collaborator with the Joshua Tree Genome Project and the Queer in STEM study of LGBTQ experiences in scientific careers. He has written for the website of Scientific American, the LA Review of Books, the Chronicle of Higher Education, The Awl, and Slate.
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