The strategic reference gene : an organismal theory of inclusive fitness
Fromhage, L., & Jennions, M. D. (2019). The strategic reference gene : an organismal theory of inclusive fitness. Proceedings of the Royal Society B : Biological Sciences, 286(1904), Article 20190459. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.0459
Date
2019Copyright
© 2019 The Author(s).
How to define and use the concept of inclusive fitness is a contentious topic in evolutionary theory. Inclusive fitness can be used to calculate selection on a focal gene, but it is also applied to whole organisms. Individuals are then predicted to appear designed as if to maximize their inclusive fitness, provided that certain conditions are met (formally when interactions between individuals are ‘additive’). Here we argue that applying the concept of inclusive fitness to organisms is justified under far broader conditions than previously shown, but only if it is appropriately defined. Specifically, we propose that organisms should maximize the sum of their offspring (including any accrued due to the behaviour/phenotype of relatives), plus any effects on their relatives' offspring production, weighted by relatedness. By contrast, most theoreticians have argued that a focal individual's inclusive fitness should exclude any offspring accrued due to the behaviour of relatives. Our approach is based on the notion that long-term evolution follows the genome's ‘majority interest’ of building coherent bodies that are efficient ‘vehicles’ for gene propagation. A gene favoured by selection that reduces the propagation of unlinked genes at other loci (e.g. meiotic segregation distorters that lower sperm production) is eventually neutralized by counter-selection throughout the rest of the genome. Most phenotypes will therefore appear as if designed to maximize the propagation of any given gene in a focal individual and its relatives.
...
![showless](/themes/JYX2//images/showless.png)
![showmore](/themes/JYX2//images/showmore.png)
Publisher
The Royal Society PublishingISSN Search the Publication Forum
0962-8452Keywords
Publication in research information system
https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/30943980
Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
Related funder(s)
Academy of FinlandFunding program(s)
Research costs of Academy Research Fellow, AoF![](/themes/JYX2/images/funders/sa_logo_thumb.jpg)
License
Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
Realistic genetic architecture enables organismal adaptation as predicted under the folk definition of inclusive fitness
Garcia‐Costoya, Guillermo; Fromhage, Lutz (Wiley-Blackwell, 2021)A fundamental task of evolutionary biology is to explain the pervasive impression of organismal design in nature, including traits benefiting kin. Inclusive fitness is considered by many to be a crucial piece in this puzzle, ... -
Fitness as the organismal performance measure guiding adaptive evolution
Fromhage, Lutz; Jennions, Michael D.; Myllymaa, Lauri; Henshaw, Jonathan M. (Oxford University Press (OUP), 2024)A long-standing problem in evolutionary theory is to clarify in what sense (if any) natural selection cumulatively improves the design of organisms. Various concepts, such as fitness and inclusive fitness, have been proposed ... -
New insights on the role of ecology and life-history in social evolution
Avila, Piret (University of Jyväskylä, 2017)Biological altruism, defined as a behaviour that benefits others at an apparent cost to the focal individual, is found abundantly across different levels of biological organization. While kin selection has been useful for ... -
The evolution of mating preferences for genetic attractiveness and quality in the presence of sensory bias
Henshaw, Jonathan M.; Fromhage, Lutz; Jones, Adam G. (National Academy of Sciences, 2022)The aesthetic preferences of potential mates have driven the evolution of a baffling diversity of elaborate ornaments. Which fitness benefit—if any—choosers gain from expressing such preferences is controversial, however. ... -
Evolutionary game theory of continuous traits from a causal perspective
Lehtonen, Jussi; Otsuka, Jun (The Royal Society Publishing, 2023)Modern evolutionary game theory typically deals with the evolution of continuous, quantitative traits under weak selection, allowing the incorporation of rich biological detail and complicated nonlinear interactions. While ...