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One-Locus Two-Allele Models With Maternal (Parental) Selection
Sergey Gavriletsaa Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Department of Mathematics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1610
Corresponding author: Sergey Gavrilets, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-1610, gavrila{at}tiem.utk.edu (E-mail).
Communicating editor: W. H. LI
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
I formulate and study a series of simple one-locus two-allele models for maternal (parental) selection. I show that maternal (parental) selection can result in simultaneous stability of equilibria of different types. Thus, in the presence of maternal (parental) selection the outcome of population evolution can significantly depend on initial conditions. With maternal selection, genetic variability can be maintained in the population even if none of the offspring of heterozygous mothers survive. I demonstrate that interactions of maternal and paternal selection can result in stable oscillations of genotype frequencies. A necessary condition for cycling is strong selection.
MATERNAL effects refer to situations in which an individual's phenotype depends (besides other factors) on the phenotype of its mother. Well known to biologists for decades, maternal effects have been considered as a nuisance that makes interpretation of biological data more difficult and that should be removed from experiments if possible (![]()
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"Maternal selection" is one of various maternal effects. This notion describes situations in which an individual's fitness depends (besides other factors) on the phenotype of its mother (![]()
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Here I consider the dynamics of a series of simple one-locus two-allele models for maternal (and paternal) selection. These models are closely related to those introduced and discussed by ![]()
| A MODEL FOR MATERNAL SELECTION |
|---|
I consider a single randomly mating diploid population with nonoverlapping generations. I assume that fitness (viability) of an individual depends on its genotype at a single diallelic locus as well as on the genotype of its mother at this locus. Let i = 1, 2, 3 correspond to genotypes AA, Aa and aa, respectively, and let wi,j be the fitness of an individual with genotype i raised by a mother with genotype j. Genotype frequencies are equal in both sexes after one generation of selection and segregation. Let x, y and z be the frequencies of adults with genotypes AA, Aa and aa, respectively. The nine mating types and the frequencies of the corresponding matings and offspring are given in Table 1. Using this table, the adult frequencies x', y' and z' in the next generation are defined by
![]() |
(1a) |
![]() |
(1b) |
![]() |
(1c) |
is such that x' + y' + z' = 1. If wi,j = wi for all i,j, that is, if the fitness of an individual depends only on its own genotype, one has a classical model of "pure" viability selection. If wij = wj for all i,j, that is, if the fitness of an individual depends only on the genotype of its mother, one has a model of "pure" maternal selection considered by
|
The dynamic system (1) has two monomorphic equilibria (1, 0, 0) and (0, 0, 1) corresponding to the fixation of genotype AA and aa, respectively. Conditions for stability of these equilibria, which can be found in a straightforward manner, are given in
Result 1 (stability of monomorphic equilibria):
Monomorphic equilibrium (1, 0, 0) is locally stable if
![]() |
(2a) |
![]() |
(2b) |
Thus, a monomorphic equilibrium is stable if fitness of the homozygote having a homozygous mother is larger than the average of the fitnesses of heterozygotes having a heterozygous mother and a homozygous mother. Reversing both inequalities results in the conditions for protecting polymorphism in this model. Analysis of attractors of (1) other than the monomorphic equilibria requires additional simplifying assumptions about fitnesses wij. Some special simplifying cases are examined below.
Symmetric model for maternal selection
A standard approach for simplifying analysis of population genetic models is to introduce some symmetry in the model. In this section, I will assume that fitnesses wi,j are symmetric in the sense that w1,1 = w3,3, w1,2 = w3,2, w2,1 = w2,3. This symmetric case can be described by the following fitness matrix:
Individual genotype Maternal genotype AA Aa aa
AA
ß Aa
aa ß
where
, ß,
and
are nonnegative. Note that neither genotype AA can have a mother with genotype aa, nor can genotype aa have a mother with genotype AA. This symmetric model implies that fitnesses of homozygotes raised by homozygous mothers are identical, fitnesses of homozygotes raised by heterozygous mothers are identical and fitnesses of heterozygotes raised by homozygous mothers are identical. The dynamic Equation 1aEquation 1bEquation 1c become
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(3a) |
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(3b) |
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(3c) |
Result 1a (stability of monomorphic equilibria):
Monomorphic equilibria (1, 0, 0) and (0, 0, 1) are (simultaneously) locally stable if
![]() |
(4) |
Let us consider polymorphic equilibria of Equation 3aEquation 3bEquation 3c.
Results 2 (existence of a symmetric polymorphic equilibrium):
There always exists a symmetric polymorphic equilibrium with xsym = zsym. The genotype frequencies at this equilibrium are xsym =
, ysym =
, zsym =
, where
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(5) |
Results 3 (stability of the symmetric polymorphic equilibrium):
The symmetric polymorphic equilibrium is locally stable if
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(6) |
>
,
and is always stable if
<
,
. Note that the former (latter) inequality guarantees the stability (instability) of the monomorphic equilibria. If
>
>
, then a symmetric equilibrium is stable for sufficiently small ß and is unstable for sufficiently large ß. If
<
<
, then it is stable for sufficiently large ß and is unstable for sufficiently small ß. It is possible that both monomorphic equilibria and a symmetric equilibrium are stable simultaneously. In this case, initial conditions determine whether polymorphism is or is not maintained in the system under consideration. On the other hand, it is possible that none of the equilibria we have considered so far are stable.
Results 4 (existence of a pair of unsymmetric polymorphic equilibria):
A pair of unsymmetric polymorphic equilibria with genotype frequencies (x*, y*, z*) and (z*, y*, x*) exists if
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(7) |
>
,
or
<
,
, the unsymmetric polymorphic equilibria do not exist. If
is closer to
than to
(that is,
1
|
-
| <
2
|
-
|), then the unsymmetric polymorphic equilibria exist for sufficiently small ß/
(for ß/
<
1/
2). If
is closer to
than to
(i.e.,
1 >
2), then the unsymmetric polymorphic equilibria exist for sufficiently large ß/
(for ß/
>
1/
2).
Can these equilibria be stable? Conditions for stability of these equilibria can be found in a straightforward manner but are rather cumbersome. These conditions simplify if ß =
= 0, that is, if offspring of heterozygous mothers are inviable. In this case, the genotype frequencies at unsymmetric equilibria are
Result 5:
If ß =
= 0, the necessary and sufficient condition for both existence and simultaneously stability of a pair of asymmetric polymorphic equilibria is
> 2
.
This somewhat conterintuitive result means that genetic variability can be maintained in the population even if none of the offspring of heterozygous mothers survive. This is a general feature of models where there is competition between sibs within a family and a feature of the maternal-effect selfish gene model of ![]()
Multiplicative model for maternal selection
Let an individual's fitness, w, be a product of two parameters, one of which, v, depends on an individual's own genotype, whereas another one, m, depends on its mother's genotype
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(8) |
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(9a) |
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(9b) |
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(9c) |
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(10) |
Symmetric model for parental selection
In this section, I assume that both parents contribute to an offspring's fitness. Let wi,jk be the fitness of an individual with genotype i raised by a mother with genotype j and a father with genotype k (i, j, k = 1, 2, 3). Using Table 1, the adult frequencies x', y' and z' in the next generation are defined by
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(11a) |
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(11b) |
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(11c) |
Maternal genotype Paternal genotype AA Aa aa
AA
ß
Aa ß
ß aa
ß
where
,
,
and
are nonnegative parameters. Note that the meaning of these parameters in the model considered here is completely independent of that in the previous sections. With fitnesses as above, the dynamic Equation 11aEquation 11bEquation 11c can be rewritten as
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(12a) |
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(12b) |
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(12c) |
To illustrate this, let us assume that only offspring of heterozygous parents and of different homozygous parents are viable, and offspring of all other pairs of parents are inviable. In this case the following is true.
Result 6:
Let
= ß = 0,
,
> 0. Then if 4
>
, the only stable equilibrium of (12) is a symmetric polymorphic equilibrium (with x* = z*). If 4
<
, the system does not have any stable equilibria.
In the latter case, the system cycles with period two (see Figure 1). In general, a dynamic system (12) cycles if the fitness
of individuals with both parents heterozygous is sufficiently large relative to the fitness
of individuals with different homozygous parents, which in turn is sufficiently larger than fitnesses
and ß of other individuals.
|
| CONCLUSIONS |
|---|
Here I have studied a series of simple one-locus two-allele models for maternal (parental) selection. ![]()
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The counterintuitive results about the maintenance of variability and cycling require selection to be strong. The following two examples of very strong maternal selection are interesting in this respect. The first example (![]()
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Results and findings reported here are complementary to those obtained within the quantitative genetic framework (e.g., ![]()
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| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
I am grateful to MARYCAROL ROSSITER and MICHAEL WADE for sharing manuscripts before publication and to reviewers for valuable comments and suggestions. This work was partially supported by National Institutes of Health grant GM-56693.
Manuscript received March 17, 1997; Accepted for publication February 23, 1998.
| APPENDIX |
|---|
In analyzing the dynamics of Equation 3aEquation 3bEquation 3c it is convenient to use new variables u =
and v =
, which are defined for y
0. The dynamic equations for u and v are
![]() |
(A1a) |
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(A1b) |
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(A2) |
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(A3) |
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(A4) |
The symmetric equilibrium is stable with respect to symmetric perturbations (such that perturbed values of u and v are equal), if at this equilibrium
v), one needs to analyze Equation A2. This equation tells us that the equilibrium is stable if the expression in the left-hand side of Equation A3 is <1. Rewriting this condition under the assumption that both u and v are equal to the equilibrium value defined by Equation A4, one finds Equation 6, which completes the proof of Result 3.
Combining Equation A3 with Equation A2 at equilibrium, one finds that at asymmetric equilibria
![]() |
(A5a) |
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(A5b) |
= 0, which has both roots positive and real if T > 2
. The latter is the condition of existence of unsymmetric polymorphic equilibria stated in Result 4. Equilibrium values of genotype frequencies can be found by using the inverse transformation x =
, y =
, z =
.
If ß =
= 0, the values of u and v at the unsymmetric equilibria are (0,
/(
/2 -
)) and (
/(
/2 -
), 0). Thus, these equilibria are feasible if
<
/2. The eigenvalues of the stability matrix at these equilibria are 2
/
and 1 - 2
/
. For the unsymmetric equilibria to be stable these eigenvalues should lie between -1 and 1, which is obviously the case given that the equilibria exist. This completes the proof of Result 5.
Using Equation 4 and Equation 6 from ![]()
= ß = 0, the only equilibrium of Equation 12aEquation 12bEquation 12c satisfies to the cubic
![]() |
(A6) |
=
. The eigenvalue that determines stability of this equilibrium is equal to -2
w3. One can easily show that if
< 4, then
w3 < 1/2 and hence the symmetric polymorphic equilibrium is stable. On the other hand, if
> 4, then
w3 > 1/2 and hence the symmetric polymorphic equilibrium is unstable. This completes the proof of Result 6. Note that iterating Equation 4 from | LITERATURE CITED |
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