On the Unit of Selection in Sexual Populations
On the Unit of Selection in Sexual Populations
Evolution by natural selection is a process of variation and selection acting on replicating units. These units are often assumed to be individuals, but in a sexual population, the largest reliably-replicated unit on which selection can act is a small section of chromosome – hence, the ‘selfish gene’ model. However, the scale of unit at which variation by spontaneous mutation occurs is different from the scale of unit at which variation by recombination occurs. I suggest that the action of recombinative variation and mutational variation together can enable local optimization to occur at two different scales simultaneously. I adapt a recent model illustrating a benefit of sexual recombination to illustrate conditions for two scales of optimization in natural populations, and show that the operation of natural selection in this scenario cannot be understood by considering either scale alone.
Watson, Richard A.
ce199dfc-d5d4-4edf-bd7b-f9e224c96c75
2005
Watson, Richard A.
ce199dfc-d5d4-4edf-bd7b-f9e224c96c75
Watson, Richard A.
(2005)
On the Unit of Selection in Sexual Populations.
In Advances in Artificial Life, Eighth European Conference (ECAL 2005).
Abstract
Evolution by natural selection is a process of variation and selection acting on replicating units. These units are often assumed to be individuals, but in a sexual population, the largest reliably-replicated unit on which selection can act is a small section of chromosome – hence, the ‘selfish gene’ model. However, the scale of unit at which variation by spontaneous mutation occurs is different from the scale of unit at which variation by recombination occurs. I suggest that the action of recombinative variation and mutational variation together can enable local optimization to occur at two different scales simultaneously. I adapt a recent model illustrating a benefit of sexual recombination to illustrate conditions for two scales of optimization in natural populations, and show that the operation of natural selection in this scenario cannot be understood by considering either scale alone.
Text
ecal2005_226_watson_oussp_camera2.pdf
- Other
More information
Published date: 2005
Organisations:
Agents, Interactions & Complexity
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 261613
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/261613
PURE UUID: 85dc982f-8953-433d-a2ae-b2c1fa0ea533
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 30 Nov 2005
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:21
Export record
Contributors
Author:
Richard A. Watson
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics