%0 Journal Article %A Ludovic Maisonneuve %A Mathieu Chouteau %A Mathieu Joron %A Violaine Llaurens %T How heterozygote advantage can promote the evolution of disassortative mating and shape the underlying genetic architecture? %D 2019 %R 10.1101/616409 %J bioRxiv %P 616409 %X Mate preferences exert strong selection on the evolution of trait variations. Here we aimed at understanding the evolution of disassortative mating based on the emblematic example of polymorphism in mimetic color patterns in the defended butterfly Heliconius numata. Positive frequency-dependent selection is exerted on wing color pattern by predators learning the association between warning coloration and chemical defenses, resulting in selection promoting mimicry toward local communities of defended species. In this well-characterized adaptive landscape, chromosomal inversions in the supergene controlling wing pattern variations have been reported. These inversions are often associated with deleterious mutations, inducing a heterozygote advantage at the supergene, favoring the evolution of disassortative mating based on wing color pattern. To explore the conditions underlying the emergence of disassortative mating, we modeled both the color pattern locus and a mate preference locus. We confirm that a heterozygote advantage favor the evolution of disassortative mating and show that disassortative mating is more likely to emerge if at least one supergene allele is free from any genetic load. Comparisons of hypothetical genetic architecture underlying mate choice behaviors show that rejection alleles linked to the supergene can be under positive selection and enable the emergence of disassortative mating behaviour. %U https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2019/04/23/616409.full.pdf