Population Genetics, Molecular Evolution, and the Neutral Theory: Selected Papers

One of this century's leading evolutionary biologists, Motoo Kimura revolutionized the field with his random drift theory of molecular evolution—the neutral theory—and his groundbreaking theoretical work in population genetics. This volume collects 57 of Kimura's most important papers and covers forty years of his diverse and original contributions to our understanding of how genetic variation affects evolutionary change. Kimura's neutral theory, first presented in 1968, challenged the notion that natural selection was the sole directive force in evolution. Arguing that mutations and random drift account for variations at the level of DNA and amino acids, Kimura advanced a theory of evolutionary change that was strongly challenged at first and that eventually earned the respect and interest of evolutionary biologists throughout the world. This volume includes the seminal papers on the neutral theory, as well as many others that cover such topics as population structure, variable selection intensity, the genetics of quantitative characters, inbreeding systems, and reversibility of changes by random drift. Background essays by Naoyuki Takahata examine Kimura's work in relation to its effects and recent developments in each area.

Table of Contents:
Contents 1 "Stepping Stone" Model of Population 2 Process leading to quasi-fixation of genes in natural populations due to random fluctuation of selection intensities 3 Solution of a process of random genetic drift with a continuous model 4 Stochastic processes and distribution of gene frequencies under natural selection 5 A model of a genetic system which leads to closer linkage by natural selection 6 Some problems of stochastic processes in genetics 7 On the change of population fitness by natural selection 8 Optimum mutation rate and degree of dominance as determined by the principle of minimum genetic load 9 Natural selection as the process of accumulating genetic information in adaptive evolution 10 The maintenance of supernumerary chromosomes in wild populations of _Lilium callosum_ by preferential segregation 11 On the probability of fixation of mutant genes in a population 12 A probability method for treating inbreeding systems, especially with linked genes 13 On the maximum avoidance of inbreeding 14 The number of alleles that can be maintained in a finite population 15 The stepping stone model of population structure and the decrease of genetic correlation with distance 16 Diffusion models in population genetics 17 A stochastic model concerning the maintenance of genetic variability in quantitative characters 18 Attainment of quasi linkage equilibrium when gene frequencies are changing by natural selection 19 Evolution in sexual and asexual populations 20 The mutational load with epistatic gene interactions in fitness 21 On the evolutionary adjustment of spontaneous mutation rates 22 Evolutionary rate at the molecular level 23 Genetic variability maintained in a finite population due to mutational production of neutral and nearly neutral isoalleles 24 The average number of generations until fixation of a mutant gene in a finite population 25 The number of heterozygous nucleotide sites maintained in a finite population due to steady flux of mutations 26 The rate of molecular evolution considered from the standpoint of population genetics 27 The length of time required for a selectively neutral mutant to reach fixation through random frequency drift in a finite population 28 Development of associative overdominance through linkage disequilibrium in finite populations 29 Protein polymorphism as a phase of molecular evolution 30 Linkage disequilibrium between two segregating nucleotide sites under the steady flux of mutations in a finite population 31 Some methods for treating continuous stochastic processes in population genetics 32 Mutation and evolution at the molecular level 33 Eukaryotes-prodaryotes divergence estimated by 5S ribosomal RNA sequences 34 The age of a neutral mutant persisting in a finite population 35 A model of mutation appropriate to estimate the number of electrophoretically detectable alleles in a finite population 36 A note on the speed of gene frequency changes in reverse directions in a finite population 37 On some principles governing molecular evolution 38 Moments for sum of an arbitrary function of gene frequency along a stochastic path of gene frequency change 39 How genes evolve; a populations geneticist's view 40 Preponderance of synonymous changes as evidence for the neutral theory of molecular evolution 41 Change of gene frequencies by natural selection under population number regulation 42 Effect of overall phenotypic selection on genetic change at individual loci 43 Efficiency of truncation selection 44 Fixation of a deleterious allele at one of two "duplicate" loci by mutation pressure and random drift 45 Population genetics of multigene family with special reference to decrease of genetic correlation with distance between gene members on a chromosome 46 A simple method for estimating evolutionary rates of base substitutions through comparative studies of nucleotide sequences 47 Genetic variability and effective population size when local extinction and recolonization of subpopulations are frequent 48 Estimation of evolutionary distances between homologous nucleotide sequences 49 Possibility of extensive neutral evolution under stabilizing selection with special reference to nonrandom usage of synocymous codons 50 A model of evolutionary base substitutions and its application with special reference to rapid change of pseudogenes 51 Selective constraint in protein polymorphism: Study of the effectively neutral mutation model by using an improved pseudosampling method. 52 Diffusion model of intergroup selection, with special reference to evolution of altruistic character 53 Rare variant alleles in the light of the neutral theory 54 Diffusion models in population genetics with special reference to fixation time of molecular mutants under mutational pressure. 55 DNA and the neutral theory 56 Molecular evolutionary clock and the neutral theory