Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Manipulation of Ploidy in Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: March 15, 2018
Polymorphism maintenance in populations with mixed random mating and apomixis subjected to stabilizing and cyclical
1Department of Mathematics, Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel.
Abstract:
We analysed a diploid population model with a mixed breeding system that includes panmixia and apomixis. Each individual produces a part (ss) of its progeny by random mating, the remainder (1-ss) being a result of precise copying (vegetative reproduction or apomixis) of the parental genotype. Both constant and periodically varying selection regimes were considered. In the main model, the selected trait was controlled by two diallelic additive or semidominant loci, A/a and B/b, whereas the parameter of breeding system (ss) was genotype-independent. A numerical iteration of the evolutionary equations were used to evaluate the proportion (V) of population trajectories converging to internal (polymorphic) fixed points. The results were the following. (a) A complex pattern of dependence of polymorphism stability on interaction among the breeding system, recombination rate, and the genetic architecture of the selected trait emerged. (b) The recombination provided some advantage to sex at intermediate period lengths and strong-to-moderate selection intensities. (c) The complex limiting behavior (CLB) was quite compatible with sexual reproduction, at least within the framework of pure genetic (not including variations in population density) models of multilocus varying selection.
Related Concept Videos
Formation of Species
Types of Selection
Frequency-dependent Selection
Hardy-Weinberg Principle
Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift
Genetics of Speciation

