Segregating site

Segregating sites are positions which show differences (polymorphisms) between related genes in a sequence alignment (are not conserved).{{cite journal|last1=Fu|first1=YX|title=Statistical properties of segregating sites.|journal=Theoretical Population Biology|date=Oct 1995|volume=48|issue=2|pages=172–97|pmid=7482370|doi=10.1006/tpbi.1995.1025|bibcode=1995TPBio..48..172F }} Segregating sites include conservative, semi-conservative and non-conservative mutations.

The proportion of segregating sites within a gene is an important statistic in population genetics since it can be used to estimate mutation rate assuming no selection. For example it is used to calculate the Tajima's D neutral evolution statistic.

File:Histone Alignment.png, produced by ClustalO, of mammalian histone proteins.

Sequences are the amino acids for residues 120-180 of the proteins. Residues that are conserved across all sequences are highlighted in grey. Below the protein sequences is a key denoting conserved sequence (*), conservative mutations (:), semi-conservative mutations (.), and non-conservative mutations ( ).{{cite web|url=http://www.ebi.ac.uk/Tools/msa/clustalw2/help/faq.html#23|website=Clustal |title= Clustal FAQ #Symbols|accessdate=8 December 2014}}]]