Mixed mating model

Mixed mating model

The mixed mating model is a mathematical model that describes the mating system of a plant population in terms of the degree of self-fertilisation present. It is a fairly simplistic model, employing several simplifying assumptions, most notably the assumption that every fertilisation event may be classed as either self-fertilisation, or outcrossing with a completely random mate. Thus the only model parameter to be estimated is the probability of self-fertilisation.[1]

The mixed mating model originated in the 1910s, with plant breeders who were seeking evidence of outcrossing contamination of self-pollinating crops, but a formal description of the model and its parameter estimation was not published until 1951. The model is still in common use today, though a number of more complex models are also now in use. For example, a weakness of the model lies in its assumption that inbreeding occurs only as a result of self-fertilisation; in reality, inbreeding may also occur through outcrossing between closely related individuals. The effective selfing model relaxes this assumption by seeking also to estimate the degree of shared ancestry of outcrossing mates.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Brown, A. H. D.; et al. (1989). "Isozyme analysis of plant mating systems". In Soltis, D. E.; Soltis, P. S. (eds). Isozymes in Plant Biology. Portland: Dioscorides Press. pp. 73–86. 


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