Time to fixation in the presence of recombination

Theor Popul Biol. 2010 Feb;77(1):23-31. doi: 10.1016/j.tpb.2009.10.005. Epub 2009 Oct 18.

Abstract

We study the evolutionary dynamics of a haploid population of infinite size recombining with a probability r in a two locus model. Starting from a low fitness locus, the population is evolved under mutation, selection and recombination until a finite fraction of the population reaches the fittest locus. An analytical method is developed to calculate the fixation time T to the fittest locus for various choices of epistasis. We find that: (1) for negative epistasis, T decreases slowly for small r but decays fast at larger r; (2) for positive epistasis, T increases linearly for small r and mildly for large r; (3) for compensatory mutation, T diverges as a power law with logarithmic corrections as the recombination fraction approaches a critical value. Our calculations are seen to be in good agreement with the exact numerical results.

MeSH terms

  • Epistasis, Genetic*
  • Genetic Fitness
  • Haploidy
  • Humans
  • Linkage Disequilibrium
  • Models, Genetic*
  • Mutation*
  • Population Dynamics
  • Recombination, Genetic*
  • Selection, Genetic*
  • Time Factors