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ANTAGONISM BETWEEN SEXUAL AND NATURAL SELECTION IN EXPERIMENTAL POPULATIONS OF SACCHAROMYCES CERVISIAE
Author(s) -
Zeyl Clifford,
Curtin Ciara,
Karnap Kristin,
Beauchamp Elspeth
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2005.tb00921.x
Subject(s) - biology , asexual reproduction , sexual reproduction , natural selection , experimental evolution , selection (genetic algorithm) , sexual selection , mating , life history theory , genetic fitness , evolutionary biology , population , reproduction , ecology , zoology , life history , genetics , biological evolution , gene , demography , artificial intelligence , sociology , computer science
Trade‐offs between life‐history components are a central concept of evolution and ecology. Sexual and natural selection seem particularly apt to impose antgonistic selective pressures. When sex not integrated into reproduction, as in Saccharomyces cerevisiae , natural selection can impair or even eliminate it. In this study, a genetic trade‐off between the sexual and asexual phases of the yeast life cycle was suggested by sharp declines in the mating and sporulation abilities of unrelated genotypes that were propagated asexually in minimal growth medium and in mice. When sexual selection was applied to populations that had previously evolved asexually, sexual fitness increased but asexual fitness declined. No such negative correlation was observed when sexual selection was applied to an ancestral strain: sexual and asexual fitness both increased. Thus, evolutionary history affected the evolution of genetic correlations, as fitness increases in a population already well adapted to the environment were more likely to come at the expense of sexual functions.