Abstract
Conspicuous lateral asymmetries of organisms are classified into two major categories: antisymmetry (AS), characterized by almost equal frequencies of dextral and sinistral morphs, and directional asymmetry (DA), in which one morph dominates. I compared and characterized two types of genes, both with existing examples, in their roles in the evolutionary transitions between AS and DA for the first time. Handedness genes (HGs) determine the chirality in a strict sense, while randomization genes (RGs) randomize the chirality. A theory predicts that, in an AS population maintained by HGs under negative frequency-dependent selection, RGs harness fluctuation of the morph frequencies as their driving force and thus increase their frequency until half of the population flips the phenotype. These predictions were confirmed by simulations. Consequently, RGs mask the genetic effects of HGs, which provides a possible explanation for the apparent lack of a genetic basis for AS in empirical AS studies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 73-80 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Theoretical Biology |
| Volume | 290 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2011 Dec 7 |
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Keywords
- Asymmetry
- Chirality
- Frequency-dependent selection
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine(all)
- Immunology and Microbiology(all)
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Modelling and Simulation
- Statistics and Probability
- Applied Mathematics
Cite this
Population stochasticity, random determination of handedness, and the genetic basis of antisymmetry. / Kamimura, Yoshitaka.
In: Journal of Theoretical Biology, Vol. 290, No. 1, 07.12.2011, p. 73-80.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Population stochasticity, random determination of handedness, and the genetic basis of antisymmetry
AU - Kamimura, Yoshitaka
PY - 2011/12/7
Y1 - 2011/12/7
N2 - Conspicuous lateral asymmetries of organisms are classified into two major categories: antisymmetry (AS), characterized by almost equal frequencies of dextral and sinistral morphs, and directional asymmetry (DA), in which one morph dominates. I compared and characterized two types of genes, both with existing examples, in their roles in the evolutionary transitions between AS and DA for the first time. Handedness genes (HGs) determine the chirality in a strict sense, while randomization genes (RGs) randomize the chirality. A theory predicts that, in an AS population maintained by HGs under negative frequency-dependent selection, RGs harness fluctuation of the morph frequencies as their driving force and thus increase their frequency until half of the population flips the phenotype. These predictions were confirmed by simulations. Consequently, RGs mask the genetic effects of HGs, which provides a possible explanation for the apparent lack of a genetic basis for AS in empirical AS studies.
AB - Conspicuous lateral asymmetries of organisms are classified into two major categories: antisymmetry (AS), characterized by almost equal frequencies of dextral and sinistral morphs, and directional asymmetry (DA), in which one morph dominates. I compared and characterized two types of genes, both with existing examples, in their roles in the evolutionary transitions between AS and DA for the first time. Handedness genes (HGs) determine the chirality in a strict sense, while randomization genes (RGs) randomize the chirality. A theory predicts that, in an AS population maintained by HGs under negative frequency-dependent selection, RGs harness fluctuation of the morph frequencies as their driving force and thus increase their frequency until half of the population flips the phenotype. These predictions were confirmed by simulations. Consequently, RGs mask the genetic effects of HGs, which provides a possible explanation for the apparent lack of a genetic basis for AS in empirical AS studies.
KW - Asymmetry
KW - Chirality
KW - Frequency-dependent selection
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80053375628&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=80053375628&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jtbi.2011.08.021
DO - 10.1016/j.jtbi.2011.08.021
M3 - Article
C2 - 21888921
AN - SCOPUS:80053375628
VL - 290
SP - 73
EP - 80
JO - Journal of Theoretical Biology
JF - Journal of Theoretical Biology
SN - 0022-5193
IS - 1
ER -