The conversion of variance and the evolutionary potential of restricted recombination

M Neiman; T A Linksvayer

doi:10.1038/sj.hdy.6800772

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The conversion of variance and the evolutionary potential of restricted recombination

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

The conversion of variance and the evolutionary potential of restricted recombination

M Neiman and T A Linksvayer

Heredity, Vol.96(2), pp.111-121

02/2006

DOI: 10.1038/sj.hdy.6800772

PMID: 16333302

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https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.hdy.6800772View

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Abstract

Genetic recombination is usually considered to facilitate adaptive evolution. However, recombination prevents the reliable cotransmission of interacting gene combinations and can disrupt complexes of coadapted genes. If interactions between genes have important fitness effects, restricted recombination may lead to evolutionary responses that are different from those predicted from a purely additive model and could even aid adaptation. Theory and data have demonstrated that phenomena that limit the effectiveness of recombination via increasing homozygosity, such as inbreeding and population subdivision and bottlenecks, can temporarily increase the additive genetic variance available to these populations. This effect has been attributed to the conversion of nonadditive to additive genetic variance. Analogously, phenomena such as chromosomal inversions and apomictic parthenogenesis that physically restrict recombination in part or all of the genome may also result in a release of additive variance. Here, we review and synthesize literature concerning the evolutionary potential of populations with effectively or physically restricted recombination. Our goal is to emphasize the common theme of increased short-term access to additive genetic variance in all of these situations and to motivate research directed towards a more complete characterization of the relevance of the conversion of variance to the evolutionary process.

Biological Evolution

Genetic Variation

Genetics, Population

Reproduction, Asexual - genetics

Animals

Epistasis, Genetic

Recombination, Genetic

Female

Inbreeding

Male

Models, Genetic

Gene Conversion

Details

Title: Subtitle: The conversion of variance and the evolutionary potential of restricted recombination
Creators: M Neiman - Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA. mn3n@virginia.edu
T A Linksvayer
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Heredity, Vol.96(2), pp.111-121
Publisher: England
DOI: 10.1038/sj.hdy.6800772
PMID: 16333302
ISSN: 0018-067X
eISSN: 1365-2540
Language: English
Date published: 02/2006
Academic Unit: Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies; Biology
Record Identifier: 9984002345502771

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