Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Sep;33(9):1203-1215.
doi: 10.1111/jeb.13660. Epub 2020 Jul 8.

Hidden genetic variance contributes to increase the short-term adaptive potential of selfing populations

Affiliations
Free article

Hidden genetic variance contributes to increase the short-term adaptive potential of selfing populations

Josselin Clo et al. J Evol Biol. 2020 Sep.
Free article

Abstract

Standing genetic variation is considered a major contributor to the adaptive potential of species. The low heritable genetic variation observed in self-fertilizing populations has led to the hypothesis that species with this mating system would be less likely to adapt. However, a non-negligible amount of cryptic genetic variation for polygenic traits, accumulated through negative linkage disequilibrium, could prove to be an important source of standing variation in self-fertilizing species. To test this hypothesis, we simulated populations under stabilizing selection subjected to an environmental change. We demonstrate that, when the mutation rate is high (but realistic), selfing populations are better able to store genetic variance than outcrossing populations through genetic associations, notably due to the reduced effective recombination rate associated with predominant selfing. Following an environmental shift, this diversity can be partially remobilized, which increases the additive variance and adaptive potential of predominantly (but not completely) selfing populations. In such conditions, despite initially lower observed genetic variance, selfing populations adapt as readily as outcrossing ones within a few generations. For low mutation rates, purifying selection impedes the storage of diversity through genetic associations, in which case, as previously predicted, the lower genetic variance of selfing populations results in lower adaptability compared to their outcrossing counterparts. The population size and the mutation rate are the main parameters to consider, as they are the best predictors of the amount of stored diversity in selfing populations. Our results and their impact on our knowledge of adaptation under high selfing rates are discussed.

Keywords: adaptation; linkage disequilibrium; mutation rate; self-fertilization; standing genetic variance.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Abu Awad, D., & Roze, D. (2018). Effects of partial selfing on the equilibrium genetic variance, mutation load, and inbreeding depression under stabilizing selection. Evolution, 72, 751-769.
    1. Anderson, J. T., Lee, C.-R., Rushworth, C. A., Colautti, R. I., & Mitchell-olds, T. (2013). Genetic trade-offs and conditional neutrality contribute to local adaptation. Molecular Ecology, 22, 699-708. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05522.x
    1. Badano, J. L., & Katsanis, N. (2002). Human genetics and disease: Beyond Mendel: An evolving view of human genetic disease transmission. Nature Reviews Genetics, 3, 779-789. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg910
    1. Barrett, R. D., & Schluter, D. (2008). Adaptation from standing genetic variation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 23, 38-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2007.09.008
    1. Barton, N. H., & Turelli, M. (1987). Adaptive landscapes, genetic distance and the evolution of quantitative characters. Genetical Research, 49, 157-173.

Publication types