More on selection for and against recombination (Q1813968)

This is a numerical study in population genetics in order to investigate the mutual effects between selection and recombination. The authors review earlier research made by Maynard Smith, Liberman and Feldman exhibiting inconsistent behaviour, and attempt to reconcile these different results in the present study. The model considered in the paper is a three-locus system with two alleles at each locus. The first and second locus, say \(A\) and \(B\), are under natural selection (two patterns of selection are considered). The third locus, say \(M\), is selectively neutral and determines the extent of recombination among \(A\), \(B\) and \(M\). The two alleles at locus \(M\) correspond to high and low recombination, with recombination probabilities 0.5 and 0.01, respectively. The authors found that the dynamics of allelic frequencies at locus \(M\) depend (i) on wether high recombination is dominant or recessive to low recombination, (ii) on the strength and form of selection at the major loci \(A\) and \(B\), and (iii) on the initial frequencies of the alleles at the major loci.