The “nearly neutral” theory of molecular evolution proposes that many features of genomes
arise from the interaction of three weak evolutionary forces: mutation, genetic drift, and …

Genetic recombination affects levels of variability and the efficacy of selection because
natural selection acting at one site affects evolutionary processes at linked sites. The …

Supergenes are clusters of linked genetic loci that jointly affect the expression of complex
phenotypes, such as social organization. Little is known about the origin and evolution of …

Genetic recombination associated with sexual reproduction increases the efficiency of
natural selection by reducing the strength of Hill–Robertson interference. Such interference …

The constant removal of deleterious mutations by natural selection causes a reduction in
neutral diversity and efficacy of selection at genetically linked sites (a process called …

Many decades of theory have demonstrated that, in non-recombining systems, slightly
deleterious mutations accumulate non-reversibly, potentially driving the extinction of many …

One of the most influential observations in molecular evolution has been a strong
association between regional recombination rate and amount of nucleotide polymorphism in …

Abstract Hill–Robertson interference (HRi) is expected to reduce the efficiency of natural
selection when two or more linked selected sites do not segregate freely, but no attempt has …

Populations continually incur new mutations with fitness effects ranging from lethal to
adaptive. While the distribution of fitness effects of new mutations is not directly observable …

Codon usage bias (CUB), where certain codons are used more frequently than expected by
chance, is a ubiquitous phenomenon and occurs across the tree of life. The dominant …