This model couples deterministic underdominant allele-frequency dynamics in equal-sized habitats by global migration. Starting with pure habitats of one allele and of the other preserves two within-class frequencies , reducing the system to , with . Migration is conservative in the mean, but selection need not conserve global allele frequency.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 52 5 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be the allele frequency of , with random mating and sufficiently large population size to neglect genetic drift. The Hardy-Weinberg proportions before selection are . Write the three genotype fitnesses as , with smaller than either homozygote value. After one viability-selection generation,ConsequentlyPut , . The underdominant allele-frequency dynamics has stable fixation states zero and one, separated by the unstable thresholdBelow it decreases to allele fixation of ; above it increases to fixation. Exactly at the threshold the deterministic frequency remains balanced, but any perturbation selects a side. This is underdominance, or heterozygote disadvantage, rather than balancing selection from heterozygote advantage.