Analyzing the genetic structure of populations: the Wahlund effect and F-statistics

Remember how I said that there are ways that populations can depart from random mating you probably haven't thought of. An important example is spatial structure. Individuals that are close to one another in space are more likely to mate than those that are far apart. This has consequences that are similar to inbreeding (and that will eventually allow us to make some interesting inferences about evolutionary processes).

You'll see that the notes include a discussion of two types of $F$-statistics, some that are due to Sewall Wright and some that are due to David Reich. Wright'ss $F$-statistics are more widely known, but if you're collecting SNP data and interested in making inferences about population phylogeny and admixture, you'll want to know about Reich's $F$-statistics too. We probably won't have time to discuss them in lecture, but the paper below illustrates how they can be used.

• Recording of lecture

Online notes

Associated readings

Holsinger, K.E., and B.S. Weir. 2009. Genetics in geographically structured populations: defining, estimating, and interpreting F_ST Nature Reviews Genetics 10:639-650 link

Reich, D., K. Thangaraj, N. Patterson, A. L. Price and L. Singh. 2009. Reconstructing Indian population history. Nature 461:489-494. link