A simple expression for the strength of selection on recombination generated by interference among mutations

One of the most widely cited hypotheses to explain the evolutionary maintenance of genetic recombination states that the reshuffling of genotypes at meiosis increases the efficiency of natural selection by reducing interference among selected loci. However, and despite several decades of theoretical work, a quantitative estimation of the possible selective advantage of a mutant allele increasing chromosomal map length (the average number of cross-overs at meiosis) remains difficult. This article derives a simple expression for the strength of selection acting on a modifier gene affecting the genetic map length of a whole chromosome or genome undergoing recurrent mutation. In particular, it shows that indirect selection for recombination caused by interference among mutations is proportional to (NeU)2/ (NeR)3, where Ne is the effective population size, U is the deleterious mutation rate per chromosome, and R is the chromosome map length. Indirect selection is relatively insensitive to the fitness effects of deleterious alleles, epistasis, or the genetic architecture of recombination rate variation and may compensate for substantial costs associated with recombination when linkage is tight. However, its effect generally stays weak in large, highly recombining populations.

Automated summary

This article discusses the evolutionary maintenance of genetic recombination and the difficulty in quantitatively estimating the selective advantage of mutant alleles that increase chromosomal map length. It provides a simple expression for the strength of selection acting on a modifier gene affecting genetic map length, showing that indirect selection for recombination is dependent on factors such as effective population size, deleterious mutation rate, and chromosome map length. Indirect selection is relatively insensitive to the fitness effects of deleterious alleles and may compensate for costs associated with recombination in tightly linked populations, but its effect remains weak in large, highly recombining populations.