Correlative genetic variation in natural populations of cats, mice and men
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ABSTRACT The study of the extent and basis of gene-enzyme variation has long been a principal concern of population genetics. Numerous surveys have indicated considerable amounts of genetic
variation detectable in natural populations, with few exceptions1–14. The variances of average heterozygosities (_H_) between species and among populations within species are large,
prompting Lewontin to emphasize the importance of large gene sample sizes7 and Selander to encourage analysis of variation of homologous gene-enzyme systems when making species comparisons8.
We present here a comparative genetic analysis of electrophoretic variation at 57 homologous biochemical loci of cats, mice and men. The distribution of polymorphism among the sampled loci
in the three species was nonrandom. A large group of sampled loci (60%) were monomorphic in all three species, whereas a second group (30%) of the loci were polymorphic in two or more
species. This conservation of the tolerance of genetic polymorphism is apparently more a characteristic of a particular locus than of the vertebrate species or of the genome. The current
hypotheses for classifying polymorphic and monomorphic loci in terms of physiological and physical enzyme characteristics have been re-examined. Access through your institution Buy or
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21, 97–103 (1968). Article Google Scholar Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Laboratory of Viral Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Institute, National
Institute of Health—Frederick Cancer Research Center, Frederick, Maryland, 21701 Stephen J. O'Brien * Biometry Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health,
Bethesda, Maryland, 20205 Mitchell H. Gail & David L. Levin Authors * Stephen J. O'Brien View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar *
Mitchell H. Gail View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * David L. Levin View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed
Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE O'Brien, S., Gail, M. & Levin, D. Correlative genetic variation in natural
populations of cats, mice and men. _Nature_ 288, 580–583 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/288580a0 Download citation * Received: 05 May 1980 * Accepted: 27 October 1980 * Issue Date: 11
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