On Deleterious Mutations in Perennials: Inbreeding Depression, Mutation Load, and Life-History Evolution

In this study, we investigate this hypothesis. We combine a physiological growth model and multilocus population genetics approaches to describe a full genotype-to-phenotype-to-fitness map. We study the behavior of mutations affecting growth or survival and explore their consequences in terms of inbreeding depression and mutation load. Although our results agree with empirical data only within a narrow range of conditions, we argue that they may point us toward the type of traits capable of generating high inbreeding depression in long-lived species-that is, traits under sufficiently strong selection, on which selection decreases sharply as life expectancy increases. Then we study the role deleterious mutations maintained at mutation-selection balance may play in the joint evolution of growth and survival strategies.PMID:33908825 | DOI:10.1086/713499

Source: The American Naturalist - April 28, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: Thomas Lesaffre Sylvain Billiard Source Type: research