Work

Detecting hybridization using ancient DNA

Year: 2016

Type: review

Abstract: It is well established that related species hybridize and that this can have varied but significant effects on speciation and environmental adaptation. It should therefore come as no surprise that hybridization is not limited to species that are alive today. In the last several decades, advances in technologies for recovering and sequencing DNA from fossil remains have enabled the assembly of high-coverage genome sequences for a growing diversity of organisms, including many that are extinct. Thanks to the development of new statistical approaches for detecting and quantifying admixture from genomic data, genomes from extinct populations have proven useful both in revealing previously unknown hybridization events and informing the study of hybridization between living organisms. Here, we review some of the key recent statistical innovations for detecting ancient hybridization using genomewide sequence data and discuss how these innovations have revised our understanding of human evolutionary history.

Source: Molecular Ecology

DOI: 10.1111/mec.13556

Authors: Nathan K. Schaefer, Beth Shapiro, Richard E. Green

Institution: University of California, Santa Cruz

Language: English

Topic: Forensic and Genetic Research

Subfield: Genetics

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Human Genome Research Institute

Award: UC Santa Cruz Training Program In Genomic Sciences