Mutation load depending on variance in reproductive success and mating system.
Equalization of reproductive success of individuals, although it results in an increase of effective population size, leads also to an increase of the mutation load. The magnitude of this increase depends highly on the mode of fitness interactions between deleterious mutations, and is higher in the case of inbreeding. Recommended practices in conservation genetics must be evaluated in regards to these differing consequences of an increase of effective population size. To keep a balance between retaining genetic variability and minimizing the increase of the mutation load, equalization of reproductive success of a set of individuals rather than of every individual might be more advantageous.
Laboratoire d'Ecologie, ENS, Paris, France.
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D000818:Animals; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D007178:Inbreeding; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics; D012098:Reproduction