The evolution and consequences of sex-specific reproductive variance.

ABSTRACT: Natural selection favors alleles that increase the number of offspring produced by their carriers. But in a world that is inherently uncertain within generations, selection also favors alleles that reduce the variance in the number of offspring produced. If previous studies have established this principle, they have largely ignored fundamental aspects of sexual reproduction and therefore how selection on sex-specific reproductive variance operates. To study the evolution and consequences of sex-specific reproductive variance, we present a population-genetic model of phenotypic evolution in a dioecious population that incorporates previously neglected components of reproductive variance. First, we derive the probability of fixation for mutations that affect male and/or female reproductive p

SUBMITTER: Mullon C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3872188 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature