Abstract
A CONTROVERSIAL point in modern population genetics is whether allozyme variation is adaptive or neutral. The interpretation of gene frequency distribution in terms of components of the environment1–4 for a given species, or in terms of the comparison of patterns of allelic variation among different species5,8, are cited as evidence of selection. Support for the alternative hypothesis derives from the apparent agreement between models based on neutrality and empirical findings either for the distribution of amino acid substitutions in proteins7,8 or for the distribution of heterozygosity9. These arguments have been challenged on theoretical grounds10,11, as well as on the basis of the distributions of allelic frequencies found in natural populations12,13.
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FONTDEVILA, A., MENDEZ, J., AYALA, F. et al. Maintenance of allozyme polymorphisms in experimental populations of Drosophila. Nature 255, 149–151 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/255149a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/255149a0
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