Genome-wide variation in the human and fruitfly: a comparison

Average levels of nucleotide diversity are ten-fold lower in humans than in the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster. Despite this difference, apparently as a result of a lower population size, patterns of genomic diversity are strikingly similar in being correlated with local rates of recombination, a nd influenced by similar interactions between positive natural selection an d recombination. Both species also show lower levels of variation on averag e in non-African compared to African populations, reflecting a similar evol utionary history and perhaps both natural selection and founder effects in new environments.