Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 16, 2026
09:17
Generation of Maternal Mutants Using zpc:cas9 Knock-in Zebrafish
Published on: July 22, 2025
970
The maintenance of single-locus polymorphism by maternal selection
Hamish G Spencer1, Kai X Chiew2
1Allan Wilson Centre, Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand hamish.spencer@otago.ac.nz.
G3 (Bethesda, Md.)
|March 22, 2015
Summary
Maternal selection may preserve genetic variation but is less likely to maintain many alleles compared to standard models. This variation, however, resists genetic drift and shows heterozygous advantage.
Area of Science:
- Population genetics
- Evolutionary biology
- Quantitative genetics
Background:
- Natural selection's role in maintaining genetic variation is a key question in population genetics.
- Standing variation in natural populations presents a challenge for evolutionary theory.
- Maternal selection, where fitness depends on both the individual and its mother's genotype, offers a different selective framework.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the polymorphism-maintaining properties of maternal selection.
- To compare maternal selection with standard viability selection models.
- To understand how mutation and selection jointly shape genetic diversity under maternal selection.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing a mathematical model proposed by Gavrilets.
- Employing a "parameter-space" approach to estimate the proportion of conditions preserving allelic variation.
- Using a "constructionist" approach to study polymorphism development over time.
Main Results:
- Maternal selection increases the parameter-state space for multiallelic polymorphism compared to constant viability selection.
- Despite a larger parameter space, maternal selection is less effective at maintaining a high number of alleles.
- Variation maintained by maternal selection exhibits heterozygous advantage and resilience to genetic drift.
Conclusions:
- Maternal selection can maintain genetic variation, but may favor fewer alleles than expected.
- The genetic diversity maintained under maternal selection is robust against genetic drift.
- Population mean fitness may temporarily decline following new mutations but tends to recover.
More Related Videos
10:08Determining the Role of Maternally-Expressed Genes in Early Development with Maternal Crispants
Published on: December 21, 2021
2.7K
11:54Microsatellite DNA Genotyping and Flow Cytometry Ploidy Analyses of Formalin-fixed Paraffin-embedded Hydatidiform Molar Tissues
Published on: October 20, 2019
9.9K
Related Concept Videos
02:59Animal Mitochondrial Genetics
10.2K
Among all the organelles in an animal cell, only mitochondria have their own independent genomes. Animal mitochondrial DNA is a double-stranded, closed-circular molecule with around 20,000 base pairs. Mitochondrial DNA is unique in that one of its two strands, the heavy, or H, -strand is guanine rich, whereas the complementary strand is cytosine rich and called the light, or L, -strand. Compared to nuclear DNA, mitochondrial DNA has a very low percentage of non-coding regions and is marked by...
10.2K
01:21Frequency-dependent Selection
24.5K
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.
24.5K
02:30Genomic Imprinting and Inheritance
39.1K
Diploid organisms inherit genetic material through chromosomes from both parents. Copies of the same gene are known as alleles. In most cases, both alleles are simultaneously expressed and allow various cellular processes to function optimally. If one of the alleles is missing or mutated, the expression of the other allele can compensate; however, this is not true for all genes.
The expression of some genes depends on which parent passed the gene to the offspring, through a phenomenon known as...
The expression of some genes depends on which parent passed the gene to the offspring, through a phenomenon known as...
39.1K
01:21Nondisjunction
5.9K
Nondisjunction is the failure of homologous chromosomes or sister chromatids to separate correctly and move to the opposite poles of the cells. This produces daughter cells with abnormal chromosome numbers. Nondisjunction is common during anaphase I or anaphase II of meiosis. Mutations in synaptonemal complex proteins that attach homologous chromosomes increase the chances of nondisjunction in anaphase I of meiosis I. In contrast, mutations in topoisomerases and condensins that hold...
5.9K
01:49Law of Segregation
80.3K
When crossing pea plants, Mendel noticed that one of the parental traits would sometimes disappear in the first generation of offspring, called the F1 generation, and could reappear in the next generation (F2). He concluded that one of the traits must be dominant over the other, thereby causing masking of one trait in the F1 generation. When he crossed the F1 plants, he found that 75% of the offspring in the F2 generation had the dominant phenotype, while 25% had the recessive phenotype.
80.3K
01:49Hardy-Weinberg Principle
77.8K
Diploid organisms have two alleles of each gene, one from each parent, in their somatic cells. Therefore, each individual contributes two alleles to the gene pool of the population. The gene pool of a population is the sum of every allele of all genes within that population and has some degree of variation. Genetic variation is typically expressed as a relative frequency, which is the percentage of the total population that has a given allele, genotype or phenotype.
77.8K