title: Fitness variation due to sexual antagonism and linkage disequilibrium.
abstract: Extensive fitness variation for sexually antagonistic characters has been detected in nature. However, current population genetic theory suggests that sexual antagonism is unlikely to play a major role in the maintenance of variation. We present a two-locus model of sexual antagonism that is capable of explaining greater fitness variance at equilibrium than previous single-locus models. The second genetic locus provides additional fitness variance in two complementary ways. First, linked loci can maintain gene variants that are lost in single-locus models of evolution, expanding the opportunity for polymorphism. Second, linkage disequilibrium results between any two sexually antagonistic genes, producing an excess of high- and low-fitness haplotypes. Our results uncover a unique contribution of conflicting selection pressures to the maintenance of variation, which simpler models that neglect genetic architecture overlook.
authors: Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. mpatten@oeb.harvard.edu
authors: Manus M
authors: MM
authors: Patten
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Haig
authors: Francisco
authors: F
authors: Ubeda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D056084:Genetic Fitness; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006239:Haplotypes; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012727:Sex Characteristics