Estimating temporally variable selection intensity from ancient DNA data with the flexibility of modelling linkage and epistasis.

Innovations in ancient DNA (aDNA) preparation and sequencing technologies have exponentially increased the quality and quantity of aDNA data extracted from ancient biological materials. The additional temporal component from the incoming aDNA data can provide improved power to address fundamental evolutionary questions like characterizing selection processes that shape the phenotypes and genotypes of contemporary populations or species. However, utilizing aDNA to study past selection processes still involves considerable hurdles like how to eliminate the confounding factor of genetic interactions in the inference of selection.

Estimating Temporally Variable Selection Intensity from Ancient DNA Data.

Novel technologies for recovering DNA information from archaeological and historical specimens have made available an ever-increasing amount of temporally spaced genetic samples from natural populations. These genetic time series permit the direct assessment of patterns of temporal changes in allele frequencies and hold the promise of improving power for the inference of selection. Increased time resolution can further facilitate testing hypotheses regarding the drivers of past selection events such as the incidence of plant and animal domestication.

Inferring the timing and strength of natural selection and gene migration in the evolution of chicken from ancient DNA data.

With the rapid growth of the number of sequenced ancient genomes, there has been increasing interest in using this new information to study past and present adaptation. Such an additional temporal component has the promise of providing improved power for the estimation of natural selection. Over the last decade, statistical approaches for the detection and quantification of natural selection from ancient DNA (aDNA) data have been developed.