Relationships between genomic dissipation and de novo SNP evolution

Abstract

Patterns of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in eukaryotic DNA are traditionally attributed to selective pressure, drift, identity descent, or related factors—without accounting for ways in which bias during de novo SNP formation, itself, might contribute. A functional and phenotypic analysis based on evolutionary resilience of DNA points to decreased numbers of non-synonymous SNPs in human and other genomes, with a predominant component of SNP depletion in the human gene pool caused by robust preferences during de novo SNP formation (rather than selective constraint). Ramifications of these findings are broad, belie a number of concepts regarding human evolution, and point to a novel interpretation of evolving DNA across diverse species.