POPULATION GENETIC PERSPECTIVES ON THE EVOLUTION OF RECOMBINATION

It is not generally realized that genetics has finally solved the age-old problem of the reason for the existence (i.e. the function) of sexuality and sex, and that only geneticists can properly answer the question, “Is sex necessary?”

Optimality arguments and modifier theory are reviewed as paradigms for the study of the evolution of recombination. Optimality criteria (such as maximization of mean fitness) may agree with results from models developed in terms of the evolution of recombination at modifier loci. Modifier models demonstrate, however, that equilibrium mean fitness can decrease during the evolution of recombination rates and is not always maximized. Therefore, optimality arguments do not successfully predict the conditions under which increased or decreased recombination will evolve. The results from modifier models indicate that decreased recombination rates are usually favored when the population is initially near a polymorphic equilibrium with linkage disequilibrium. When the population is subject to directional selection or to deleterious mutations, increased recombination may be favored under certain conditions, provided that there is negative epistasis among alleles.