Recent population decline and selection shape diversity of taxol-related genes

Taxanes are defensive metabolites produced by Taxus species (yews) and used in anticancer therapies. Despite their medical interest, patterns of natural diversity in taxane related genes are unknown. We examined variation at five main taxol-related genes of T. baccata in the Iberian Peninsula, a region where unique yew genetic resources are endangered. We looked at several gene features and applied complementary neutrality tests, including diversity/divergence tests, tests solely based on site-frequency spectrum and Zeng’s compound tests. To account for specific demography, microsatellite data were used to infer historical changes in population size based on an Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) approach. Polymorphism-divergence tests pointed to positive selection for genes TBT and TAT, and balancing selection for DBAT. In addition, neutrality tests based on site-frequency spectrum found that while a recent reduction in population size may explain most of statistics’ values, selecti...