A study of interlocus allozyme heterozygosity correlations: implications for neutral theory.

Using a database of allozyme studies, correlations in heterozygosity between selected enzyme loci (MDH, alpha GPDH, IDH, 6PGDH, LDH, SOD, AAT, PGM, EST, PGI) were calculated across vertebrate species. Large and positive correlations were observed with untransformed heterozygosity values. However, after transformation to correct for mean species heterozygosity, correlations were substantially reduced and median values were closer to zero. Some enzymes were more often involved in significant correlations than others, and correlations calculated across species within vertebrate classes were significant for different enzyme pairs in different classes. There was no evidence that significant correlations occurred primarily between functionally related enzymes. It is suggested that the observed correlations are best explained by variation between enzyme loci in functional constraint and effective neutral mutation rate.