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Related Concept Videos

Types of Selection01:46

Types of Selection

Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
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Microorganisms evolve rapidly due to their large population sizes and short generation times, often exhibiting measurable changes within days under laboratory conditions. Natural selection acts on standing genetic variation, enabling the retention and amplification of beneficial traits that confer fitness advantages in changing environments.Adaptive Pigment Regulation in RhodobacterIn Rhodobacter, a genus of purple non-sulfur bacteria, light-harvesting pigments such as bacteriochlorophyll and...
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Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations
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The long-term evolution of multilocus traits under frequency-dependent disruptive selection.

G Sander van Doorn1, Ulf Dieckmann

  • 1Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Kerklaan 30, 9751 NN Haren, The Netherlands. vandoorn@santafe.edu

Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution
|January 24, 2007
PubMed
Summary

Frequency-dependent disruptive selection can lead to genetic polymorphism, but this variation often collapses, concentrating genetic diversity onto fewer loci over time. This challenges previous assumptions about its long-term evolutionary impact.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Population Genetics
  • Theoretical Ecology

Background:

  • Frequency-dependent disruptive selection is a key driver of genetic variation.
  • Existing models (phenotypic, quantitative genetics, game theory, adaptive dynamics) have idealized genetic assumptions and differing predictions.
  • Population genetic models traditionally assume constant fitness, limiting studies on frequency-dependent selection, especially in multilocus contexts and long-term evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To bridge the gap between phenotypic and genotypic models of frequency-dependent disruptive selection.
  • To investigate the long-term evolution of multilocus characters under these selection pressures.
  • To understand the dynamics of genetic variation maintenance and collapse.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a multilocus version of Levene's soft-selection model.
  • Employed individual-based simulations.
  • Used deterministic approximations based on adaptive dynamics theory.

Main Results:

  • Observed a general pattern of polymorphism formation followed by collapse across multiple loci.
  • Demonstrated that genetic variation concentrates onto fewer loci over evolutionary time.
  • Identified inherent changes in the selection regime as the cause of this pattern.

Conclusions:

  • Frequency-dependent disruptive selection's capacity to maintain polygenic variation is less than previously thought.
  • The evolutionary process involves convergence to a fitness minimum and subsequent genetic polymorphism.
  • Findings integrate aspects of quantitative genetics and adaptive dynamics, offering a more comprehensive view of evolutionary trajectories.