Evolutionary biology of deleterious mutations and sex

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The ubiquity of sex and recombination across disparate forms of biological life indicate that the selective pressures favouring genetic exchange are powerful and widespread. Understanding this source of selection is not only important to basic science but may allow for improved management of biological resources (i.e., agriculture, fisheries, forestry, conservation). However, the ultimate reasons for sex and recombination have been elusive. Although there has been considerable progress in understanding the conceptual issues underlying this classic problem, many theoretical and empirical questions remain. The proposed research outlines several projects designed to illuminate the importance of different factors affecting the evolution of sex. Specifically, theory will be developed to evaluate how different sources of genetic variation (e.g., deleterious mutation, spatial heterogeneity in selection, host-parasite coevolution) contribute to selection for sex. Empirically, we will test how sex and recombination affect the mean and variance in fitness under different experimental conditions.