title: The role of deleterious mutations in the stability of hybridogenetic water frog complexes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Some species of water frogs originated from hybridization between different species. Such hybrid populations have a particular reproduction system called hybridogenesis. In this paper we consider the two species Pelophylax ridibundus and Pelophylax lessonae, and their hybrids Pelophylax esculentus. P. lessonae and P. esculentus form stable complexes (L-E complexes) in which P. esculentus are hemiclonal. In L-E complexes all the transmitted genomes by P. esculentus carry deleterious mutations which are lethal in homozygosity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We analyze, by means of an individual based computational model, L-E complexes. The results of simulations based on the model show that, by eliminating deleterious mutations, L-E complexes collapse. In addition, simulations show that particular female preferences can contribute to the diffusion of deleterious mutations among all P. esculentus frogs. Finally, simulations show how L-E complexes react to the introduction of translocated P. ridibundus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The conclusions are the following: (i) deleterious mutations (combined with sexual preferences) strongly contribute to the stability of L-E complexes; (ii) female sexual choice can contribute to the diffusion of deleterious mutations; and (iii) the introduction of P. ridibundus can destabilize L-E complexes.
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bove
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Milazzo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Informatica, Università di Pisa, Largo B, Pontecorvo, 3, 56127 Pisa, Italy. barbuti@di.unipi.it.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barbuti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D056084:Genetic Fitness; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D009154:Mutation; D011898:Ranidae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology