The Neutral Theory of Molecular EvolutionMotoo Kimura, as founder of the neutral theory, is uniquely placed to write this book. He first proposed the theory in 1968 to explain the unexpectedly high rate of evolutionary change and very large amount of intraspecific variability at the molecular level that had been uncovered by new techniques in molecular biology. The theory - which asserts that the great majority of evolutionary changes at the molecular level are caused not by Darwinian selection but by random drift of selectively neutral mutants - has caused controversy ever since. This book is the first comprehensive treatment of this subject and the author synthesises a wealth of material - ranging from a historical perspective, through recent molecular discoveries, to sophisticated mathematical arguments - all presented in a most lucid manner. |
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User Review - amarcobio - LibraryThingI may be biased but I think this is an essential book to understand evolution. It is true that some pieces may be a bit out of date, the the whole book is still scientifically sound. The text is clear ... Read full review
Contents
Overdevelopment of the synthetic theory and the proposal of | 15 |
The neutral mutationrandom drift hypothesis as an evolutionary | 34 |
Molecular evolutionary rates contrasted with phenotypic evolu | 55 |
Some features of molecular evolution | 98 |
Definition types and action of natural selection | 117 |
Molecular structure selective constraint and the rate of evolution | 149 |
Population genetics at the molecular level | 194 |
Maintenance of genetic variability at the molecular level | 253 |
Summary and conclusion | 305 |
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Common terms and phrases
adaptive allelic frequencies amino acid amino acid substitutions assume average heterozygosity base substitutions chapter chromosome codon compared course of evolution denote divergence Drosophila effective number effective population effective population size electrophoretic enzyme equation equilibrium estimate evolutionary change evolutionary rate example expected finite population Fisher fitness fixation formula fraction gene frequency genetic variability genome genotypes globin Haldane hemoglobin homologous homozygotes hypothesis individuals Kimura and Ohta large number loci locus mammals Maruyama mean million years ago molecular evolution molecular level molecule mouse mutant allele mutant substitutions mutation rate natural populations natural selection neutral alleles neutral mutations neutral theory nucleotide nucleotide sites nucleotide substitutions number of alleles observed obtained occur overdominance phenotypic polymorphism population genetics probability protein polymorphism pseudogenes random drift rate of evolution represents sample selection coefficient selective advantage selectively neutral sequences slightly deleterious species stabilizing selection synonymous codons synonymous substitutions tRNA variance vertebrate
Popular passages
Page 342 - Gilbert, W. (1977) A new method for sequencing DNA. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 74, 560-564.
Page 330 - Cordell, B., Bell, G. Tischer, E., DeNoto, FM, Ullrich, A., Pictet, R., Rutter, WJ & Goodman, HM (1979).
Page 347 - Dennis. 1979. Nucleotide sequence of the ribosomal protein gene cluster adjacent to the gene for RNA polymerase subunit ft in Escherichia coli.
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution |
| Author | Motoo Kimura |
| Edition | reprint, revised |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press, 1983 |
| ISBN | 0521317932, 9780521317931 |
| Length | 367 pages |
| Subjects | › › Science / Life Sciences / Biology Science / Life Sciences / Developmental Biology |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |