DEDUCING THE COEFFICIENT OF RELATIONSHIP BY THE AMOUNT OF RECOMBINATION PRODUCED DURING AUTOMICTIC PARTHENOGENESIS

Recombination occurs in automictic parthenogens, but it is localized to the DNA between the chiasma and the telomere if central fusion (fusion of non-sister nuclei of meiosis II) occurs, and to the DNA between the chiasma and the centromere if terminal fusion (of sister nuclei of meiosis II) occurs. Independent assortment of recombined DNA leads to more variability. Here it is argued that by comparing heritabilities obtained from sib analysis of sexually-reproducing individuals with heritabilities obtained from parent-offspring regressions of automictic individuals, one can obtain an estimate of the coefficient of relationship (r) between automictically produced offspring and their parents. The coefficient of relationship for different traits will differ and can be related to the average position (in relation to chiasmata) of genes affecting the trait or to the heterozygosity of the genes.