The dynamics of linkage disequilibrium under temporal environmental fluctuations: Two-locus selection (Q1897484)

Linkage disequilibrium is one of the key notions in population genetics. Analysis of behavior of linkage disequilibrium coefficients \((D)\) is a necessary step in the study of different problems including the nature of stable polymorphic equilibria, discriminating factors responsible for the observed patterns of variation in real populations, evolution of sex and recombination, etc. For example, the dynamics of the sign of \(D\) is considered to be a crucial factor determining the fate of recombination modifers in a population. We describe some regularities of the behavior of the sign \(D\) under environmental fluctuations in infinite panmictic populations with non-overlapping generations. Both diploid and haploid selection regimes were considered. The latter is of special importance providing the possibility of analyzing factors not related to heterozygote advantage.