School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
The relative roles of natural selection and random genetic drift in explaining among-population divergence have been assessed through comparative studies of quantitative genetic across populations (Qst) and neutral marker differentiation (Fst). The Qst-Fst comparison can provide attention to two crucial but understudied issues in evolutionary genetics: What role do random genetic drift and directed natural selection play in population differentiation of quantitative traits? 2) Is there a relationship between the degree of differentiation of neutral marker loci and the degree of differentiation of genes encoding quantitative traits? The essential principles, function, practical application, and quantitative substitute of quantitative inheritance and neutral marker distinction between natural populations are described in this review, which provides a theoretical foundation for solving a variety of problems in evolution and ecological genetics.