Quantitative variability and multilocus polymorphism under epistatic selection (Q1803894)

In order to find mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of genetic variability of quantitative characters, the authors studied a multi-locus model for diploid random-mating populations under viability selection. Evolution is described by a class of general fitness functions accounting for additive, dominant and pairwise epistatic effects. Model equations are derived in terms of allelic frequencies and pairwise linkage disequilibria, and conditions for the existence and stability of multi- locus polymorphisms are stated. It is shown that in case of standard additive models the number of polymorphic loci at equilibrium cannot be greater than one. In generalized models with pairwise epistatic interactions, however, completely polymorphic stable equilibria exist.