Selection with Partial Selfing. I. Mass Selection

The expected responses to mass selection carried out before or after reproduction in a population whose members all have a fixed probability of self pollination (s) are formulated using covariances of relatives and their component quadratic functions for a model with arbitrary additive and dominance effects. The response measured in the first generation offspring after selection (immediate gain) can differ from that retained when the population has regained equilibrium (permanent gain). The population mean behaves in a predictable manner during the return to equilibrium, and its value at any time can be predicted from earlier generations. The permanent gain from selection after reproduction is always (1 + s)/2 times as large as that from selection before reproduction, but the relationship of the immediate gains depends on the genetic model assumed. Numerical analysis applied to a model with two alleles per locus and varying allele frequencies, dominance ratios and numbers of loci showed that the proportion of the immediate gain retained at equilibrium was reduced with the large inbreeding depression associated with increasing dominance levels and numbers of loci and was generally lower for selection after reproduction than before. In the absence of information as to the magnitude of genetic variances and inbreeding depression in species reproducing by partial selfing, the importance of this phenomenon is unknown.     

Modeling of alpha-superhelical proteins. Selection of sequence, synthesis, and properties

An analysis of the alpha-tropomyosin primary structure suggests a periodic sequence able to form an alpha-superhelical conformation. A repeating unit (the heptapeptide monomer) was obtained by sequential synthesis in solution using pentafluorophenyl esters of the N-protected amino acids. The polyheptapeptide (Glu-Lys-Lys-Leu-Glu-Glu-Ala)n with an average molecular weight 6500 has been synthesized by polymerization of the heptamer. It is shown that the polymer product forms a stable alpha-superhelix at acidic pH in water solution.     

Stabilizing Selection,Purifying Selection,and Mutational Bias in Finite Populations

Genomic traits such as codon usage and the lengths of noncoding sequences may be subject to stabilizing selection rather than purifying selection. Mutations affecting these traits are often biased in one direction. To investigate the potential role of stabilizing selection on genomic traits, the effects of mutational bias on the equilibrium value of a trait under stabilizing selection in a finite population were investigated, using two different mutational models. Numerical results were generated using a matrix method for calculating the probability distribution of variant frequencies at sites affecting the trait, as well as by Monte Carlo simulations. Analytical approximations were also derived, which provided useful insights into the numerical results. A novel conclusion is that the scaled intensity of selection acting on individual variants is nearly independent of the effective population size over a wide range of parameter space and is strongly determined by the logarithm of the mutational bias parameter. This is true even when there is a very small departure of the mean from the optimum, as is usually the case. This implies that studies of the frequency spectra of DNA sequence variants may be unable to distinguish between stabilizing and purifying selection. A similar investigation of purifying selection against deleterious mutations was also carried out. Contrary to previous suggestions, the scaled intensity of purifying selection with synergistic fitness effects is sensitive to population size, which is inconsistent with the general lack of sensitivity of codon usage to effective population size.     

Energy, Calling, and Selection

SYNOPSIS. Acoustic signals often mediate the mating processand are under selection through the action of female choice.Acoustic signalling requires relatively large amounts of energyinput, but metabolic energy is coupled to acoustic energy inefficiently.Although not necessarily a cause and effect relationship, femalesoften prefer signals with more energy. Females may prefer moreintense calls, more complicated calls, or calls produced ata greater repetition rate. I discuss various evolutionary changesthat could increase acoustic energy received by the female andexamine how these changes are influenced by other factors inherentto communication systems: signal radiation, species recognition,sexual selection, the physiology of the receptor system, andenvironmental bioacoustics. I conclude that these factors constrainthe ability of the animal to maximize energy received by thefemale. I then consider how two hypotheses, the good genes hypothesisand the runaway sexual selection hypothesis, attempt to explainthe evolution of female choice for signals with greater energycontent.     

Statistical Genetics of an Annual Plant, Impatiens Capensis. II. Natural Selection

Measurement of natural selection on correlated characters provides valuable information on fitness surfaces, patterns of directional, stabilizing, or disruptive selection, mechanisms of fitness variation operating in nature, and possible spatial variation in selective pressures. We examined effects of seed weight, germination date, plant size, early growth, and late growth on individual fitness. Path analysis showed that most characters had direct or indirect effects on individual fitness, indicating directional selection. For most early life-cycle characters, indirect effects via later characters exceed the direct causal effect on fitness. Selection gradients were uniform across the experimental site. There was no evidence for stabilizing or disruptive selection. We discuss several definitions of stabilizing and disruptive selection. Although early events in the life of an individual have important causal effects on subsequent characters and fitness, there is no detectable genetic variance for most of these characters, so little or no genetic response to natural selection is expected.     

动物的生境选择

动物的生境选择颜忠诚陈永林（中国科学院动物研究所,北京１０００８０）ＨａｂｉｔａｔＳｅｌｅｃｔｉｏｎｉｎＡｎｉｍａｌｓ．ＹａｎＺｈｏｎｇｃｈｅｎｇ,ＣｈｅｎＹｏｎｇｌｉｎ（ＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＺｏｏｌｏｇｙ,ＡｃａｄｅｍｉａＳｉｎｉｃａ,Ｂｅｉｊｉ...