Simulation of X-Linked Selection in Drosophila

Abstract

The change in gene frequency for two X-linked mutants, y and w, in a number of experiments was compared to that predicted from a genetic simulation program which utilized estimated differences in relative mating ability, fecundity, and viability. The simulation gave excellent predictions of gene frequency change even when experiments were started with different initial gene frequencies in the males and females or when the two loci were segregating simultaneously. The rate of elimination was slower when there were unequal initial gene frequencies than when males and females had equal initial gene frequencies. Simulation demonstrated that this was a general phenomenon when there is strong selection but that the opposite is true for weak selection. In two other experiments, the mating advantage of wild-type males was balanced by a fecundity advantage in mutant females. In all four replicates of both experiments, the mutant was maintained for several generations at the high initial frequency but then decreased quickly and was eliminated. Results obtained restarting one of these experiments with flies from a generation after the decline in gene frequency indicated that a linked gene and not frequency-dependent selection was responsible for the unpredictable gene-frequency change in the mutant. Using a least squares technique, it was found that a recessive fecundity locus 15 map units from the w locus gave the best fit for both experiments.

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