Abstract

For over thirty years, genetic tools have been used to investigate natural and artificial reef populations, answering questions about demographic connectivity, genetic connectivity, population structure, and adaptation. Next-generation sequencing and associated technologies have now transformed genetic tools into genomic tools. For example, a single plate of Sanger (traditional) sequencing could yield approximately 67,000 base pairs (bp) of data. In contrast, one lane of Illumina HiSeq (next-generation) sequencing can yield up to 30 billion bp of data. This increase in throughput has also been accompanied by a 35,000 times decrease in the cost of sequencing per bp. Instead of a handful of genetic markers, populations/species/individuals can now be screened at thousands of genetic markers spread across an entire genome. The unprecedented increase in number of easily accessed genetic markers allows dramatic increases in precision and power of estimating traditional population genetic parameters (e.g., genetic variability, connectivity, divergence) and, more im-portantly, now allows elucidation of adaptive portions of the genome (i.e., genes responding to selection and adaptation).

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