Disequilibrium among several linked neutral genes in finite population II. Variances and Covariances of Disequilibria

Abstract

A method is derived for computing the variances and covariances of linkage disequilibria between neutral genes in finite populations, which is based on a linear transformation of results given previously for the mean values of disequilibria. The formulae obtained are limited to moments of sixth order or less, such as the variance of the three-locus disequilibrium. It is shown that there is no covariance between any pair of disequilibria in populations starting equilibrium. The pattern of change with time in variance of the three-locus disequilibrium from populations initially in equilibrium is similar to that for two loci, except that the highest values are achieved rather earlier and are smaller.