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Updated: Jul 17, 2026
14:23
Recombineering Homologous Recombination Constructs in Drosophila
Published on: July 13, 2013
Effects of selfing on selection for recombination
D Charlesworth1, B Charlesworth, C Strobeck
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QG England.
Genetics
|May 1, 1977
Summary
Increased selfing can alter selection for recombination rates, sometimes favoring it, especially with environmental changes, but can also increase selection against recombination in constant environments.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary genetics
- Population genetics
- Theoretical biology
Background:
- Recombination rates are crucial for genetic diversity and adaptation.
- Selfing (inbreeding) significantly impacts population genetic processes.
- Understanding selection on recombination modifiers is key to evolutionary theory.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how selfing affects selection for modifiers of recombination rates.
- To examine different models of selection acting on recombination.
- To explore the interplay between selfing, selection, and recombination.
Main Methods:
- Computer simulations were employed to model selection.
- Four distinct models of selection for increased recombination were analyzed.
- Effects of varying selfing levels on recombination modifiers were simulated.
Main Results:
- Hitchhiking models showed that increased selfing can increase selection for recombination, but not always.
- Environmental fluctuation models consistently showed increased selfing leading to increased selection for recombination.
- Constant-environment models with nonadditive fitness revealed selfing increases selection against recombination, unlike random mating.
Conclusions:
- Selfing's effect on selection for recombination is context-dependent, varying with selection models.
- High selfing levels can sometimes reduce the intensity of selection against recombination.
- The genetic consequences of selfing on recombination are complex and model-specific.
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