Population Genetics of Multiple Loci (Mathematical and Computational Biology)

Population Genetics of Multiple Loci F. B. Christiansen University of Aarhus, Denmark "This is a very beautiful and powerful study of an area that Christiansen has dominated for many years." - Marcus Feldman, Stanford University, USA Population genetics thrives on the constant interaction between theoretical and empirical knowledge. In the first instance, population genetics was developed using one-locus, two-allele models for genetic variation. The simplicity of these models opened up theoretical developments in population and evolutionary genetics to biologists without specialist training in mathematics. Population genetics of multi-allelic loci is more complex and requires more mathematical insight, and its study is predominantly undertaken by mathematical biologists. Traditional formulations of multi-locus theory do not simplify by assuming two alleles per locus. In this elegant presentation the author provides a formulation of multi-locus population genetics that retains the simplicity of two-allele models. * Provides an accessible and natural extension of classical population genetics to multiple loci * Exposes the population genetic aspects of sexual reproduction * Describes the complexity of evolutionary interactions among genes * Provides the background for insight into the functioning of genetic algorithms applied in computer science * Written by a world leader in the field The book is divided into two main sections. Part I - Recombination and Segregation - includes coverage of random mating, inbreeding, migration and mixing. Part II - Selection - covers numerous phenomena involving natural selection including viability, fertility, mutation and migration. The author has successfully presented the theory in a way that is intelligible to anyone with a reasonably good background in basic mathematics and is devoted to learning multiple loci population genetics. The text is primarily aimed at advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers inte