William Amos

Homozygosity and risk of childhood death due to invasive bacterial disease (2009)

Lyons, Emily J, Amos, William, Berkley, James A, Mwangi, Isaiah, Shafi, Mohammed, Williams, Thomas N, ...

Abstract Background Genetic heterozygosity is increasingly being shown to be a key predictor of fitness in natural populations, both through inbreeding depression, inbred individuals having low...

Sexual selection does not influence minisatellite mutation rate (2009)

Amos, William

Abstract Background Moller and Cuervo report a significant trend between minisatellite mutation rate and the frequency of extra-pair copulations in birds. This is interpreted as evidence that the...

Heterozygosity increases microsatellite mutation rate, linking it to demographic history (2008)

Amos, William, Flint, Jonathan, Xu, Xin

Abstract Background Biochemical experiments in yeast suggest a possible mechanism that would cause heterozygous sites to mutate faster than equivalent homozygous sites. If such a process operates, it...

Quantifying Ascertainment Bias and Species-Specific Length Differences in Human and Chimpanzee Microsatellites Using Genome Sequences (2006)

Vowles, Edward J., Amos, William

Surveys of variability of homologous microsatellite loci among species reveal an ascertainment bias for microsatellite length where microsatellite loci isolated in one species tend to be longer than...

The Hidden Value of Missing Genotypes (2006)

Amos, William

Robotic systems allow vast genetic data sets to be generated automatically with little manual input, raising questions about accuracy. To test whether errors occur randomly, I used the frequencies of...

The Hidden Value of Missing Genotypes (2006)

Amos, William

Robotic systems allow vast genetic datasets to be generated automatically with little manual input, raising questions about accuracy. To test whether errors occur randomly, I used the frequencies of...

Quantifying Ascertainment Bias and Species-Specific Length Differences in Human and Chimpanzee Microsatellites Using Genome Sequences (2005)

Vowles, Edward J., Amos, William

Surveys of variability of homologous microsatellite loci among species reveal an ascertainment bias for microsatellite length where microsatellite loci isolated in one species tend to be longer than...

Quantifying Ascertainment Bias and Species-Specific Length Differences in Human and Chimpanzee Microsatellites Using Genome Sequences (2005)

Vowles, Edward J., Amos, William

Surveys of variability of homologous microsatellite loci among species reveal an ascertainment bias for microsatellite length where microsatellite loci isolated in one species tend to be longer than...

EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTAL RELATEDNESS AND MALE REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS IN THE ANTARCTIC FUR SEAL ARCTOCEPHALUS GAZELLA (2004)

Joseph. I. Hoffman, Ian L. Boyd, William Amos

Recent genetic studies of natural populations have shown that heterozygosity and other genetic estimates of parental relatedness correlate with a wide variety of fitness traits, from juvenile...

Evidence for Widespread Convergent Evolution around Human Microsatellites (2004)

Edward J. Vowles, William Amos

An analysis of sequences flanking microsatellites in the human and chimpanzee genomes suggests that mutations do not occur independently and randomly, as is commonly assumed in models of DNA sequence...

Evidence for Widespread Convergent Evolution around Human Microsatellites (2004)

Edward J. Vowles, William Amos

Microsatellites are a major component of the human genome, and their evolution has been much studied. However, the evolution of microsatellite flanking sequences has received less attention, with...

MALE REPRODUCTIVE STRATEGY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF MATERNAL STATUS IN THE ANTARCTIC FUR SEAL ARCTOCEPHALUS GAZELLA (2003)

Joseph I. Hoffman, Ian L. Boyd, William Amos

Although mammalian mating systems are classically characterized in terms of male competition and polygyny, it is becoming increasingly apparent that alternative male strategies and female choice may...

Directional Evolution of Size Coupled with Ascertainment Bias for Variation in Drosophila Microsatellites (2003)

Amos, William, Hutter, Carolyn M., Schug, Malcolm D., Aquadro, Charles F.

Species-specific differences in microsatellite locus length and ascertainment bias have both been proposed to explain differences in microsatellite variability and length usually observed when loci...

Directional Evolution of Size Coupled with Ascertainment Bias for Variation in Drosophila Microsatellites (2003)

Amos, William, Hutter, Carolyn M., Schug, Malcolm D., Aquadro, Charles F.

Species-specific differences in microsatellite locus length and ascertainment bias have both been proposed to explain differences in microsatellite variability and length usually observed when loci...

Directional Evolution of Size Coupled with Ascertainment Bias for Variation in Drosophila Microsatellites (2003)

Amos, William, Hutter, Carolyn M., Schug, Malcolm D., Aquadro, Charles F.

Species-specific differences in microsatellite locus length and ascertainment bias have both been proposed to explain differences in microsatellite variability and length usually observed when loci...

MALADAPTIVE MATE CHOICE MAINTAINED BY HETEROZYGOTE ADVANTAGE (2001)

Oliver Krüger, Jan Lindström, William Amos

Common buzzards (Buteo buteo) show a plumage polymorphism that appears to be maintained by heterozygote advantage and allows a maladaptive form of mate choice to persist. The light and dark morphs...

Genetic susceptibility to tuberculosis in Africans: A genome-wide scan

Bellamy, Richard, Beyers, Nulda, Ruwende, Cyril, Gie, Robert, Samaai, Priscilla, ...

Human genetic variation is an important determinant of the outcome of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We have conducted a two-stage genome-wide linkage study to search for regions of the...

Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis of human Y-chromosome microsatellites provides evidence of biased mutation

Cooper, Gillian, Burroughs, Nigel J., Rand, David A., Rubinsztein, David C., Amos, William

We describe a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis of five human Y- chromosome microsatellite polymorphisms based on samples from five diverse populations. Our analysis provides strong evidence for...

Evidence for Widespread Convergent Evolution around Human Microsatellites

Vowles, Edward J, Amos, William

Microsatellites are a major component of the human genome, and their evolution has been much studied. However, the evolution of microsatellite flanking sequences has received less attention, with...

Y-Chromosomal Diversity in Europe Is Clinal and Influenced Primarily by Geography, Rather than by Language

Rosser, Zoë H., Zerjal, Tatiana, Hurles, Matthew E., Adojaan, Maarja, Alavantic, Dragan, Amorim, António, ...

Clinal patterns of autosomal genetic diversity within Europe have been interpreted in previous studies in terms of a Neolithic demic diffusion model for the spread of agriculture; in contrast,...

An Empirical Exploration of the (δμ)2 Genetic Distance for 213 Human Microsatellite Markers

Cooper, Gillian, Amos, William, Bellamy, Richard, Siddiqui, Mahveen Ruby, Frodsham, Angela, Hill, Adrian V. S., ...

Microsatellites are now used ubiquitously as genetic markers. One important application is to the assessment of population subdivision and phylogenetic relatedness. Such applications require a method...

Global genetic positioning: Evidence for early human population centers in coastal habitats

Amos, William, Manica, Andrea

For an alternative perspective on relationships among human populations, we combined genetic and geographic information, using allele frequency gradients to place populations and individuals on the...

Microsatellite Length Differences Between Humans and Chimpanzees at Autosomal Loci Are Not Found at Equivalent Haploid Y Chromosomal Loci

Kayser, Manfred, Vowles, Edward J., Kappei, Dennis, Amos, William

When homologous microsatellites are compared between species, significant differences in mean length are often noted. A dominant cause of these length differences is ascertainment bias due to...

Genetic susceptibility to tuberculosis in Africans: A genome-wide scan

Bellamy, Richard, Beyers, Nulda, Ruwende, Cyril, Gie, Robert, Samaai, Priscilla, ...

Human genetic variation is an important determinant of the outcome of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We have conducted a two-stage genome-wide linkage study to search for regions of the...

Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis of human Y-chromosome microsatellites provides evidence of biased mutation

Cooper, Gillian, Burroughs, Nigel J., Rand, David A., Rubinsztein, David C., Amos, William

We describe a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis of five human Y- chromosome microsatellite polymorphisms based on samples from five diverse populations. Our analysis provides strong evidence for...

Evidence for Widespread Convergent Evolution around Human Microsatellites

Vowles, Edward J, Amos, William

Microsatellites are a major component of the human genome, and their evolution has been much studied. However, the evolution of microsatellite flanking sequences has received less attention, with...

Y-Chromosomal Diversity in Europe Is Clinal and Influenced Primarily by Geography, Rather than by Language

Rosser, Zoë H., Zerjal, Tatiana, Hurles, Matthew E., Adojaan, Maarja, Alavantic, Dragan, Amorim, António, ...

Clinal patterns of autosomal genetic diversity within Europe have been interpreted in previous studies in terms of a Neolithic demic diffusion model for the spread of agriculture; in contrast,...

An Empirical Exploration of the (δμ)2 Genetic Distance for 213 Human Microsatellite Markers

Cooper, Gillian, Amos, William, Bellamy, Richard, Siddiqui, Mahveen Ruby, Frodsham, Angela, Hill, Adrian V. S., ...

Microsatellites are now used ubiquitously as genetic markers. One important application is to the assessment of population subdivision and phylogenetic relatedness. Such applications require a method...

Global genetic positioning: Evidence for early human population centers in coastal habitats

Amos, William, Manica, Andrea

For an alternative perspective on relationships among human populations, we combined genetic and geographic information, using allele frequency gradients to place populations and individuals on the...

Microsatellite Length Differences Between Humans and Chimpanzees at Autosomal Loci Are Not Found at Equivalent Haploid Y Chromosomal Loci

Kayser, Manfred, Vowles, Edward J., Kappei, Dennis, Amos, William

When homologous microsatellites are compared between species, significant differences in mean length are often noted. A dominant cause of these length differences is ascertainment bias due to...

Male heterozygosity predicts territory size, song structure and reproductive success in a cooperatively breeding bird.

Seddon, Nathalie, Amos, William, Mulder, Raoul A., Tobias, Joseph A.

Recent studies of non-social animals have shown that sexually selected traits signal at least one measure of genetic quality: heterozygosity. To determine whether similar cues reveal group quality in...

Does kin selection influence fostering behaviour in Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella)?

Hoffman, Joseph. I, Amos, William

A recent observation that female Antarctic fur seals foster pups born to related females raises the fascinating possibility that kin selection may promote altruistic behaviour even on a crowded...

Body temperature predicts maximum microsatellite length in mammals

Amos, William, Clarke, Andrew

A long-standing mystery in genome evolution is why short tandem repeats vary so much in length and frequency. Here, we test the hypothesis that body temperature acts to influence the rate and nature...