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Self-fertilization and the evolution of recombination
1Génétique et Evolution des Maladies Infectieuses, Institut de Recherche Pour le Développement, Montpellier, France. denis.roze@ed.ac.uk
Genetics
|March 23, 2005
Summary
Self-fertilization impacts the evolution of recombination rates. Sporophytic selfing, even at low rates, strongly favors increased recombination under specific epistasis, unlike gametophytic selfing which requires high rates.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Population Genetics
Background:
- Self-fertilization influences genetic linkage and recombination rates.
- Understanding modifier allele evolution is crucial for evolutionary dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of self-fertilization on recombination rate modifier evolution.
- To compare the impact of gametophytic and sporophytic selfing on recombination.
Main Methods:
- Mathematical modeling of allele frequency change under weak selection.
- Analysis at quasi-linkage equilibrium.
- Consideration of two selfing life cycles: gametophytic and sporophytic.
Main Results:
- Gametophytic selfing favors increased recombination under epistasis, but requires high selfing rates.
- Sporophytic selfing significantly broadens the parameter range favoring recombination, especially with negative dominance x dominance epistasis.
- Selfing induces homozygosity correlations at linked loci, which recombination counteracts.
Conclusions:
- Self-fertilization, particularly sporophytic selfing, plays a significant role in shaping recombination rates.
- The type of selfing and epistasis critically determine the direction of recombination modifier evolution.