Population structure of multilocus associations.

A method of analysis is presented whereby the structure of multilocus associations among and within several populations can be partitioned into its components. The components are measured by their contributions to the variance in the number of heterozygous loci in two randomly chosen gametes. The singlelocus components are the average and the variation among populations in gene diversity and the variance among populations in allele frequency. The two-locus components include the mean and variance of disequilibria, the covariance of allele frequencies over populations, and various interactions. When applied to allozyme data from populations of wild (Hordeum spontaneum) and cultivated barley (H. vulgare), the analysis highlighted the repetitive pattern of the multilocus associations in the composite crosses whereas it emphasized the regionally localized and geographically variable pattern present in the natural populations of the wild species. The analysis is flexible and applicable to multilocus gametic data from any set of populations, without regard to the number of alleles per locus or the reproductive method of the organism.