Adaptation is maintained by the parliament of genes
Fields such as behavioural and evolutionary ecology are built on the assumption that natural selection leads to organisms that behave as if they are trying to maximise their fitness. However, there is considerable evidence for selfish genetic elements that change the behaviour of individuals to incr...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Research
2019
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| _version_ | 1797071096224153600 |
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| author | Scott, T West, S |
| author_facet | Scott, T West, S |
| author_sort | Scott, T |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Fields such as behavioural and evolutionary ecology are built on the assumption that natural selection leads to organisms that behave as if they are trying to maximise their fitness. However, there is considerable evidence for selfish genetic elements that change the behaviour of individuals to increase their own transmission. How can we reconcile this contradiction? Here we show that: (1) when selfish genetic elements have a greater impact at the individual level, they are more likely to be suppressed, and suppression spreads more quickly; (2) selection on selfish genetic elements drives them towards a greater impact at the individual level, making them more likely to be suppressed; (3) the majority interest within the genome generally prevails over ‘cabals’ of a few genes, irrespective of genome size, mutation rate and the sophistication of trait distorters. Overall, our results suggest that even when there is the potential for considerable genetic conflict, this often has negligible impact at the individual level. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T22:48:19Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:5df30ec0-4d17-4e2c-b4fa-265beb7d8f05 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T22:48:19Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | Nature Research |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:5df30ec0-4d17-4e2c-b4fa-265beb7d8f052022-03-26T17:37:27ZAdaptation is maintained by the parliament of genesJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:5df30ec0-4d17-4e2c-b4fa-265beb7d8f05EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordNature Research2019Scott, TWest, SFields such as behavioural and evolutionary ecology are built on the assumption that natural selection leads to organisms that behave as if they are trying to maximise their fitness. However, there is considerable evidence for selfish genetic elements that change the behaviour of individuals to increase their own transmission. How can we reconcile this contradiction? Here we show that: (1) when selfish genetic elements have a greater impact at the individual level, they are more likely to be suppressed, and suppression spreads more quickly; (2) selection on selfish genetic elements drives them towards a greater impact at the individual level, making them more likely to be suppressed; (3) the majority interest within the genome generally prevails over ‘cabals’ of a few genes, irrespective of genome size, mutation rate and the sophistication of trait distorters. Overall, our results suggest that even when there is the potential for considerable genetic conflict, this often has negligible impact at the individual level. |
| spellingShingle | Scott, T West, S Adaptation is maintained by the parliament of genes |
| title | Adaptation is maintained by the parliament of genes |
| title_full | Adaptation is maintained by the parliament of genes |
| title_fullStr | Adaptation is maintained by the parliament of genes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Adaptation is maintained by the parliament of genes |
| title_short | Adaptation is maintained by the parliament of genes |
| title_sort | adaptation is maintained by the parliament of genes |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT scottt adaptationismaintainedbytheparliamentofgenes AT wests adaptationismaintainedbytheparliamentofgenes |