Large-Scale Analyses of Positive Selection Using Codon Models

Abstract

Positive selection is the mechanism of adaptation to the environment, as well as the main source of novelty in evolution and thus it is of great interest to find its trace in genomes. During the last decade, different evolutionary models have been developed to detect positive selection at the gene level, based on divergence between species. Most recently, these models have been applied to large-scale comparisons of genomes. We present in this chapter some strengths and limitations of such genomic scans for positive selection and discuss the main recent large-scale studies, as well as relevant databases. We particularly discuss our recent results concerning the impact of genome duplication in vertebrate evolution and our related database Selectome.