The interplay of natural selection and genetic drift, influenced by geographic isolation, mating systems and population size, determines patterns of genetic diversity within species. The sperm whale provides an interesting example of a long-lived species with few geographic barriers to dispersal. Worldwide mtDNA diversity is relatively low, but highly structured...
Environmental DNA sequencing has revealed the expansive biodiversity of microorganisms
and clarified the relationship between host-associated microbial communities and host
phenotype. Shotgun metagenomic DNA sequencing is a relatively new and powerful
environmental sequencing approach that provides insight into community biodiversity and
function. But, the analysis of metagenomic sequences is complicated...