The Effect of Post-Reproductive Lifespan on the Fixation Probability of Beneficial Mutations.
PLoS One
; 10(7): e0133820, 2015.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26230256
ABSTRACT
Post-reproductive lifespan is a common trait among mammals and is usually considered to be neutral; i.e. with no influence on population dynamics. Here, we explore the role of post-reproductive lifespan in the fixation probability of beneficial genetic variation. We compare two separate, stationary populations living in a constant environment that are equivalent except for the average time their respective members spend in the post-reproductive stage of life. Using a recently derived approximation, we show that fixation of a beneficial mutation is more likely in the population with greater post-reproductive longevity. This finding is surprising, as the population with more prolonged post-reproductive lifespan has smaller effective size and the classic population-genetic model would suggest that decreasing effective size reduces fixation chances of beneficial mutations. Yet, as we explain, in the age-structured case, when effective size gets smaller because of longer post-reproductive lifespan but census size is kept equal, a beneficial mutation has a higher likelihood to get fixed because it finds itself at higher initial frequency.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Reprodução
/
Mutação
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2015
Tipo de documento:
Article