How to translate text using browser tools
1 July 2006 MULTILOCUS GENETICS AND THE COEVOLUTION OF QUANTITATIVE TRAITS
Michael Kopp, Sergey Gavrilets
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

We develop and analyze an explicit multilocus genetic model of coevolution. We assume that interactions between two species (mutualists, competitors, or victim and exploiter) are mediated by a pair of additive quantitative traits that are also subject to direct stabilizing selection toward intermediate optima. Using a weak-selection approximation, we derive analytical results for a symmetric case with equal locus effects and no mutation, and we complement these results by numerical simulations of more general cases. We show that mutualistic and competitive interactions always result in coevolution toward a stable equilibrium with no more than one polymorphic locus per species. Victim-exploiter interactions can lead to different dynamic regimes including evolution toward stable equilibria, cycles, and chaos. At equilibrium, the victim is often characterized by a very large genetic variance, whereas the exploiter is polymorphic in no more than one locus. Compared to related one-locus or quantitative genetic models, the multilocus model exhibits two major new properties. First, the equilibrium structure is considerably more complex. We derive detailed conditions for the existence and stability of various classes of equilibria and demonstrate the possibility of multiple simultaneously stable states. Second, the genetic variances change dynamically, which in turn significantly affects the dynamics of the mean trait values. In particular, the dynamics tend to be destabilized by an increase in the number of loci.

Michael Kopp and Sergey Gavrilets "MULTILOCUS GENETICS AND THE COEVOLUTION OF QUANTITATIVE TRAITS," Evolution 60(7), 1321-1336, (1 July 2006). https://doi.org/10.1554/05-581.1
Received: 17 October 2005; Accepted: 2 May 2006; Published: 1 July 2006
JOURNAL ARTICLE
16 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
Coevolutionary cycling
disruptive selection
frequency-dependent selection
maintenance of genetic variation
multilocus genetics
victim-exploiter coevolution
weak-selection approximation
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top