Detecting footprints of selection in Ovis aries by a spatial analysis approach

Abstract

Detecting adaptive loci in the genome is essential as it gives the possibility to understand what proportion of a genome or which genes are under the pressure of natural selection. In this paper, we used a Spatial Analysis Method (SAM) recently developed to detect signatures of natural selection in sheep breeds. With the contribution of Geographical Information Systems, environmental variables, and AFLP data, multiple univariate logistic regressions are run to test for association between allelic frequencies at marker loci and environmental variables. The results of the application of this method to sheep breeds are compared with those obtained with a standard population genetics approach.