The Red Queen and the persistence of linkage-disequilibrium oscillations in finite and infinite populations.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Red Queen Hypothesis (RQH) suggests that the coevolutionary dynamics of host-parasite systems can generate selection for increased host recombination. Since host-parasite interactions often have a strong genetic basis, recombination between different hosts can increase the fraction of novel and potentially resistant offspring genotypes. A prerequisite for this mechanism is that host-parasite interactions generate persistent oscillations of linkage disequilibria (LD).

Results

We use deterministic and stochastic models to investigate the persistence of LD oscillations and its impact on the RQH. The standard models of the Red Queen dynamics exhibit persistent LD oscillations under most circumstances. Here, we show that altering the standard model from discrete to

SUBMITTER: Kouyos RD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2198919 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature