# Human Population Differentiation is Strongly Correlated With Local Recombination Rate

 Title: Human Population Differentiation is Strongly Correlated With Local Recombination Rate Author: Keinan, Alon; Reich, David Emil Note: Order does not necessarily reflect citation order of authors. Citation: Keinan, Alon, and David Reich. 2010. Human population differentiation is strongly correlated with local recombination rate. PLoS Genetics 6(3): e1000886. Full Text & Related Files: 2845648.pdf (369.5Kb; PDF) Abstract: Allele frequency differences across populations can provide valuable information both for studying population structure and for identifying loci that have been targets of natural selection. Here, we examine the relationship between recombination rate and population differentiation in humans by analyzing two uniformly-ascertained, whole-genome data sets. We find that population differentiation as assessed by inter-continental $$F_{ST}$$ shows negative correlation with recombination rate, with $$F_{ST}$$ reduced by 10% in the tenth of the genome with the highest recombination rate compared with the tenth of the genome with the lowest recombination rate $$(P\ll10^{-12})$$. This pattern cannot be explained by the mutagenic properties of recombination and instead must reflect the impact of selection in the last 100,000 years since human continental populations split. The correlation between recombination rate and $$F_{ST}$$ has a qualitatively different relationship for $$F_{ST}$$ between African and non-African populations and for $$F_{ST}$$ between European and East Asian populations, suggesting varying levels or types of selection in different epochs of human history. Published Version: doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000886 Other Sources: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2845648/pdf/ Terms of Use: This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#LAA Citable link to this page: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4931150