Sex-linked genes in age-structured populations.
We study the progress towards equilibrium of the frequencies of sex-linked genes in elementary discrete time models of age-structured, overlapping generation populations. It is found that, if a finite upper age limit is assumed, the difference in the frequencies of an allele in males and females will oscillate as in the familiar non-overlapping generation models, although the oscillations may be irregular. Monotonic convergence of that difference, as found by Nagylaki (1975) in continuous-time overlapping generation models without age-structure, occurs in the models considered here only when there is no upper age limit and when there is "sufficient" overlap of generations.
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D012730:Sex Chromosomes