Probability Seminar: Sarah P. Otto
Topic
Fixation Probability when Selection Occurs in Both Haploid and Diploid phases
Speakers
Details
Joint work with Kazuhiro Bessho. Classical population genetic theory generally assumes either a fully haploid or fully diploid life cycle.
However, manyorganisms exhibit more complex life cycles, with both free-living haploid and diploid stages. Here we ask what the probability of fixation is for selected alleles in organisms with selection acting on both haploid and diploid phases of a sexual life cycle, based on both a Moran model and a Wright–Fisher model. Applying a branching process approximation, we obtain an accurate fixation probability assuming that the population is large and the net effect of the mutation is beneficial. We also find the diffusion approximation for the fixation probability, which is accurate even in small populations and for deleterious alleles, as long as selection is weak. These fixation probabilities from branching process and diffusion approximations are similar when selection is weak for beneficial mutations that are not fully recessive. In many cases, particularly when one phase predominates, the fixation probability differs substantially for haploid-diploid organisms compared to either fully haploid or diploid species.
Additional Information
Location: ESB 2012
Sarah P. Otto , UBC
Sarah P. Otto , UBC