Sibling rivalry between seeds within a fruit: Some population genetic models

Joshi, NV (1992) Sibling rivalry between seeds within a fruit: Some population genetic models. In: Journal of Genetics, 71 (3). pp. 105-119.

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Abstract

Competition between seeds within a fruit for parental resources is described using one-locus-two-allele models. While a �normal� allele leads to an equitable distribution of resources between seeds (a situation which also corresponds to the parental optimum), the �selfish� allele is assumed to cause the seed carrying it to usurp a higher proportion of the resources. The outcome of competition between �selfish� alleles is also assumed to lead to an asymmetric distribution of resources, the �winner� being chosen randomly. Conditions for the spread of an initially rare selfish allele and the optimal resource allocation corresponding to the evolutionarily stable strategy, derived for species with n-seeded fruits, are in accordance with expectations based on Hamilton�s inclusive fitness criteria. Competition between seeds is seen to be most intense when there are only two seeds, and decreases with increasing number of seeds, suggesting that two-seeded fruits would be rarer than one-seeded or many-seeded ones. Available data from a large number of plant species are consistent with this prediction of the model.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Indian Academy of Sciences.
Keywords:	Intrabrood conflict;sibling rivalry;brood reduction;cainism; seed-seed competition;evolutionarily stable strategy.
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences
Date Deposited:	30 May 2011 09:08
Last Modified:	30 May 2011 09:08
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ernet.in/id/eprint/37601

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