Molecular evolution of chloroplast DNA in fig (Ficus carica L) Footprints of sweep selection and recent expansion

Hen we report the nucleotide variation in two non-coding regions of the chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) to construct a possible evolutionary scenario in Ficus carica L Our results sugE est the occurrence of haplotypic and nucleotide diversity with a large variation level of chloroplast non-coding regions Furthermore our results demonstrated an explicit rejection of the null hypothesis that within F carica the intron trnL and the spacer trnL-trnF evolved under a strictly neutral model of molecular evolution Although recent population expansion could serve as one alternative explanation for the detected excess of singleton our results imply a positive selection and the genetic hitchhiking effect is unlikely Parameters performed supported scenario of sweep selection and recent expansion of F carica across Tunisia Our results indicate that both positive selection and demographic histories have jointly contributed to the observed patterns of nucleotide diversity and haplotypes structure Based on the results we characterize the fig resources and provide several suggestions for effective conservation and improvement programs (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved