[evo.theory] Evo Theory Reading this Week: Models of symbiosis

[Brett Calcott]

Hi all,

We meet this Friday (10th sep) at 1pm in Seminar Room F, in the Coombs
Building. 


This week we are reading : 

Frank, S. A. 1997. Models of symbiosis. American Naturalist 150:S80--S99. 

A tentative outline of concepts is proposed for the evolutionary genetics of
symbiosis. There are three main topics. The first concerns the tension
between the integrative and disruptive forces of kin selection. Kin
selection can be disruptive because competition among close relatives favors
dispersal and a reduction in relatedness among neighbors. Kin selection acts
independently within each species of a symbiotic community, but has
important consequences for the integration of the community into a
cooperative unit. The second topic describes the evolution of beneficial,
synergistic effects between species. The evolution of mutual effects depends
on various correlations between species. Genetic correlations are analogous
to linkage disequilibrium in standard mendelian genetics. Correlations in
reproductive success between symbiotic partners arise from codispersal and
reproductive synchrony. The third topic concerns the evolution of asymmetric
symbioses in which one species can dominate its partner. Dominance may
explain the evolution of uniparental inheritance among cytoplasmic symbionts
and a peculiar form of germ-soma separation in the symbionts of insects.



You can get this directly from Frank's Website (along with lots of other
interesting papers!):

http://stevefrank.org/reprints-pdf/97AmNat-Symb.pdf


See you there,
Brett


--
Brett Calcott
Philosophy Program, RSSS, ANU
Canberra, ACT 0200, AUSTRALIA