Recombination and the role of pseudo-overdominance in polyploid evolution.

ABSTRACT: Natural selection is an imperfect force that can under some conditions fail to prevent the buildup of deleterious mutations. Small population sizes and the lack of recombination are two such scenarios that reduce the efficiency of selection. Under these conditions, the disconnect between deleterious genetic load and individual fitness due to the masking of recessive deleterious mutations in heterozygous individuals may result in the emergence of pseudo-overdominance, wherein the buildup of haplotypes with complementary sets of deleterious mutations results in apparent heterozygote advantage and an increase in linked neutral diversity. In polyploids, the presence of additional allelic copies magnifies this masking effect and may therefore increase the probability of pseudo-overdominance. He

SUBMITTER: Booker WW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11908147 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature