Monthly Archives: September 2015

arXiv: Underdominance in Population Networks

We submitted a preprint of our "network" manuscript to arXiv and it will post today (link and info below).  We also submitted it to a journal but went over the page limit so are currently editing it down to be shorter.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1509.02205

arXiv:1509.02205

Title: Stability of Underdominant Genetic Polymorphisms in Population Networks
Authors: \'Aki J. L\'aruson and Floyd A. Reed
Categories: q-bio.PE
License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/

Heterozygote disadvantage is potentially a potent driver of population
genetic divergence. Also referred to as underdominance, this phenomena
describes a situation where a genetic heterozygote has a lower overall fitness
than either homozygote. Attention so far has mostly been given to
underdominance within a single population and the maintenance of genetic
differences between two populations exchanging migrants. Here we explore the
dynamics of an underdominant system in a network of multiple discrete, yet
interconnected, populations. Stability of genetic differences in response to
increases in migration in various topological networks is assessed. The network
topology can have a dominant and occasionally non-intuitive influence on the
genetic stability of the system. Applications of these results to theories of
speciation, population genetic engineering, and general dynamical systems are
described.

By the way, the is my first arXiv submission.  I wish I had done this years ago for other papers that were delayed for months, or in the two worst cases literally years, in review and resubmission cycles and then we ended up getting scooped in the end.  I am planning to use arXiv a lot more in the future.

It feels odd to submit something to be widely available before publication.  However, many journals now accept this (see also the discussion here) and there is excellent work that is freely available in arXiv.  There is also some discussion whether or not authors should cite preprints on arXiv with the general feeling that this is fine and in fact appropriate to do so and should be encouraged.