Investigating Microsatellites for Evidence of Natural Selection

A microsatellite is a repeated motif in DNA sequence found predominantly in intergenic regions. Recently, some microsatellites have been shown to be functional and therefore likely affect fitness. In particular, microsatellite variation can have grave human health impacts through disease. On the other hand, microsatellites in the promoters of genes sometimes affect gene expression and can therefore undergo adaptive selection. Using a method devised by Haasl and Payseur (2013), microsatellite data can be analyzed to determine if there is evidence for selection. If selection is supported, then more simulations will be run to produce estimates of important selective and mutational parameters