Entropy and Information Approaches to Genetic Diversity and its Expression: Genomic Geography

Abstract

This article highlights advantages of entropy-based genetic diversity measures, at levels from gene expression to landscapes. Shannon’s entropy-based diversity is the standard for ecological communities. The exponentials of Shannon’s and the related “mutual information” excel in their ability to express diversity intuitively, and provide a generalised method of considering microscopic behaviour to make macroscopic predictions, under given conditions. The hierarchical nature of entropy and information allows integrated modeling of diversity along one DNA sequence, and between different sequences within and among populations, species, etc. The aim is to identify the formal connections between genetic diversity and the flow of information to and from the environment.

Keywords

• entropy
• information
• genes
• DNA sequence
• subdivision
• dispersal
• migration
• natural selection
• genome-wide association studies
• linkage disequilibrium
• gene expression
• gene regulation
• disease phenotypes