A model-based analysis of GC-biased gene conversion in the human and chimpanzee genomes

GC-biased gene conversion (gBGC) is a recombination-associated process that favors the fixation of G/C alleles over A/T alleles. In mammals, gBGC is hypothesized to contribute to variation in GC content, rapidly evolving sequences, and the fixation of deleterious mutations, but its prevalence and general functional consequences remain poorly understood. gBGC is difficult to incorporate into models of molecular evolution and so far has primarily been studied using summary statistics from genomic comparisons. Here, we introduce a new probabilistic model that captures the joint effects of natural selection and gBGC on nucleotide substitution patterns, while allowing for correlations along the genome in these effects. We implemented our model in a computer program, called phastBias, that can accurately detect gBGC tracts about 1 kilobase or longer in simulated sequence alignments. When applied to real primate genome sequences, phastBias predicts gBGC tracts that cover roughly 0.3% of the human and chimpanzee genomes and account for 1.2% of human-chimpanzee nucleotide differences. These tracts fall in clusters, particularly in subtelomeric regions; they are enriched for recombination hotspots and fast-evolving sequences; and they display an ongoing fixation preference for G and C alleles. They are also significantly enriched for disease-associated polymorphisms, suggesting that they contribute to the fixation of deleterious alleles. The gBGC tracts provide a unique window into historical recombination processes along the human and chimpanzee lineages. They supply additional evidence of long-term conservation of megabase-scale recombination rates accompanied by rapid turnover of hotspots. Together, these findings shed new light on the evolutionary, functional, and disease implications of gBGC. The phastBias program and our predicted tracts are freely available.
Author Summary Interpreting patterns of DNA sequence variation in the genomes of closely related species is critically important for understanding the causes and functional effects of nucleotide substitutions. Classical models describe patterns of substitution in terms of the fundamental forces of mutation, recombination, neutral drift, and natural selection. However, an entirely separate force, called GC-biased gene conversion (gBGC), also appears to have an important influence on substitution patterns in many species. gBGC is a recombination-associated evolutionary process that favors the fixation of strong (G/C) over weak (A/T) alleles. In mammals, gBGC is thought to promote variation in GC content, rapidly evolving sequences, and the fixation of deleterious mutations. However, its genome-wide influence remains poorly understood, in part because, it is difficult to incorporate gBGC into statistical models of evolution. In this paper, we describe a new evolutionary model that jointly describes the effects of selection and gBGC and apply it to the human and chimpanzee genomes. Our genome-wide predictions of gBGC tracts indicate that gBGC has been an important force in recent human evolution. Our publicly available computer program, called phastBias, and our genome-wide predictions will enable other researchers to consider gBGC in their analyses.