2023/10/07 by Juan Li, Li, Juan, Claudia Bank +1 · 2 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #FOS: Biological sciences #Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals #Genetic diversity and population structure #Populations and Evolution (q-bio.PE)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2310.04730
openalex publication_date 2023/10/07 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Dominance is usually considered a constant value that describes the relative difference in fitness or phenotype between heterozygotes and the average of homozygotes at a focal polymorphic locus. However, the observed dominance can vary with the genetic background of the focal locus. Here, alleles at other loci modify the observed phenotype through position effects or dominance modifiers that are sometimes associated with pathogen resistance, lineage, sex, or mating type. Theoretical models have illustrated how variable dominance appears in the context of multi-locus interaction (epistasis). Here, we review empirical evidence for variable dominance and how the observed patterns may be captured by proposed epistatic models. We highlight how integrating epistasis and dominance is crucial for comprehensively understanding adaptation and speciation.