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Related Concept Videos

Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

Frequency-dependent Selection

When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.Positive Frequency-Dependent SelectionIn positive...
Dosage Compensation02:50

Dosage Compensation

In animals, gender is determined by the number and type of sex chromosome. For example, human females have two X chromosomes, and males have one X and one Y chromosome, whereas C.elegans with one X chromosome is a male, and the one with two X chromosomes is a hermaphrodite.
In addition to sexual development, the X chromosome has genes involved in autosomal functions such as brain development and the immune system. Therefore, males and females with  distinct numbers of X chromosomes will have...
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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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 8, 2026

Frequency and Distribution of Crossovers in Caenorhabditis elegans Meiosis by SNP Genotyping using Real-time PCR
06:18

Frequency and Distribution of Crossovers in Caenorhabditis elegans Meiosis by SNP Genotyping using Real-time PCR

Published on: July 11, 2025

Widespread genetic incompatibility in C. elegans maintained by balancing selection.

Hannah S Seidel1, Matthew V Rockman, Leonid Kruglyak

  • 1Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. hseidel@princeton.edu

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|January 12, 2008
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Genetic incompatibilities are usually eliminated by natural selection. However, a study in Caenorhabditis elegans found a persistent incompatibility, suggesting balanced polymorphism maintains this genetic conflict.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary genetics
  • Population genetics
  • Molecular biology

Background:

  • Natural selection typically removes genetic incompatibilities between interbreeding populations.
  • Genetic incompatibilities can negatively impact organismal fitness.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate a globally distributed genetic incompatibility in Caenorhabditis elegans.
  • To understand the evolutionary mechanisms maintaining this incompatibility despite fitness costs.

Main Methods:

  • Population genetic analyses of linked loci zeel-1 and peel-1.
  • Examination of sequence divergence and linkage disequilibrium.
  • Assessing the fitness consequences of the incompatibility.

Main Results:

  • A specific incompatibility between alleles of zeel-1 and peel-1 was identified.
  • Incompatible alleles are tightly linked and found in common haplotypes.
  • Natural selection actively preserves these haplotypes, maintaining the incompatibility.

Conclusions:

  • A balanced polymorphism involving linked loci preserves a genetic incompatibility in Caenorhabditis elegans.
  • This balanced polymorphism persists despite gene flow and negative fitness effects.