Red Queen Processes Drive Positive Selection on Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Genes
Fig 2
Population size and MHC polymorphism.
Impact of population size on the maintenance of MHC polymorphism (upper panels) and heterozygosity (lower panels) under three simulated scenarios–heterozygote advantage (HA), Red Queen (RQ) dynamics, and both (HA+RQ) (see legend)–with three pathogen mutation rates (given above the panels). Data points indicate the mean number of MHC alleles (A-C) and mean heterozygosity (D-F) and are calculated across the last 6000 generations of 10 replicate simulations. Error bars indicate bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals.