Title |
Impact of Selection and Demography on the Diffusion of Lactase Persistence
|
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Published in |
PLOS ONE, July 2009
|
DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0006369 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Pascale Gerbault, Céline Moret, Mathias Currat, Alicia Sanchez-Mazas |
Abstract |
The lactase enzyme allows lactose digestion in fresh milk. Its activity strongly decreases after the weaning phase in most humans, but persists at a high frequency in Europe and some nomadic populations. Two hypotheses are usually proposed to explain the particular distribution of the lactase persistence phenotype. The gene-culture coevolution hypothesis supposes a nutritional advantage of lactose digestion in pastoral populations. The calcium assimilation hypothesis suggests that carriers of the lactase persistence allele(s) (LCT*P) are favoured in high-latitude regions, where sunshine is insufficient to allow accurate vitamin-D synthesis. In this work, we test the validity of these two hypotheses on a large worldwide dataset of lactase persistence frequencies by using several complementary approaches. |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 3 | 2% |
United States | 3 | 2% |
France | 1 | <1% |
Norway | 1 | <1% |
Austria | 1 | <1% |
Germany | 1 | <1% |
Czechia | 1 | <1% |
Switzerland | 1 | <1% |
Canada | 1 | <1% |
Other | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 161 | 92% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Researcher | 33 | 19% |
Student > Bachelor | 31 | 18% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 27 | 15% |
Student > Master | 14 | 8% |
Other | 13 | 7% |
Other | 32 | 18% |
Unknown | 25 | 14% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 70 | 40% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 24 | 14% |
Social Sciences | 18 | 10% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 7 | 4% |
Arts and Humanities | 7 | 4% |
Other | 21 | 12% |
Unknown | 28 | 16% |