Inbreeding and Selection in Natural Populations

Partial inbreeding due to sibmating can reduce heterozygosity beyond that resulting from partial self-fertilization alone. A negative autocorrelation in inbreeding over time, results in higher heterozygosity than when there is no autocorrelation. High selfing can result in a greater probability of polymorphism when there are selective differences over space. When two loci are considered simultaneously, inbreeding may increase or decrease the likelihood of polymorphism. Genetic hitchhiking may be basis of genetic change in highly selfed plants.