Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!nih-csl!lhc!bionet!PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU!HOLSINGE%UCONNVM From: HOLSINGE%UCONNVM@PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU ("Kent E. Holsinger") Newsgroups: bionet.population-bio Subject: Re: Estimation of Gene Flow (was re: true gene flow) Message-ID: <9010181243.AA14389@genbank.bio.net> Date: 18 Oct 90 12:04:09 GMT References: Sender: daemon@genbank.bio.net Lines: 14 Joe Felsenstein pointed out one difficulty with the estimation of gene flow from allozyme data. There is another one that he did not mention. It applies equally to Slatkin's private allele method and to Fst methods. In both cases the assumption is made that similarities between populations reflect an equilibrium between gene flow and drift. The problem is that the distribution of genetic variation among populations is often influenced by historical factors, e.g. the re-colonization of north temperate latitudes after the last glacial maximum. If the pattern of genetic differentiation is primarily, or largely, a result of the history of population establishment, allele frequencies will contain no information about the extent of between population gene flow. I don't recall whether Slatkin's 1989 method based on the coalescent is subject to the same limitations. Perhaps Joe will. Kent E. Holsinger