Evolution favours aging in populations with assortative mating and in sexually dimorphic populations

LENÁRT, Peter, Julie BIENERTOVÁ VAŠKŮ and Luděk BEREC. Evolution favours aging in populations with assortative mating and in sexually dimorphic populations. Scientific reports. LONDON: NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, vol. 8, October, p. 1-11. ISSN 2045-2322. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-34391-x. 2018.

Basic information

• Original name: Evolution favours aging in populations with assortative mating and in sexually dimorphic populations
• Authors: LENÁRT, Peter (703 Slovakia, belonging to the institution), Julie BIENERTOVÁ VAŠKŮ (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution) and Luděk BEREC (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: Scientific reports, LONDON, NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, 2018, 2045-2322.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 10700 1.7 Other natural sciences
• Country of publisher: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• Impact factor: Impact factor: 4.011
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14110/18:00105077
• Organization unit: Faculty of Medicine
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-34391-x
• UT WoS: 000448732200002
• Keywords in English: RED-QUEEN; SENESCENCE; SEX; AGE; MAINTENANCE; ADAPTATION; LONGEVITY; MORTALITY; SELECTION; PARASITES
• Tags: 14110518, podil, rivok
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

Since aging seems omnipresent, many authors regard it as an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics. However, recent research has conclusively shown that some organisms do not age, or at least do not age on a scale comparable with other aging organisms. This begets the question why aging evolved in some organisms yet not in others. Here we present a simulation model of competition between aging and non-aging individuals in a sexually reproducing population. We find that the aging individuals may outcompete the non-aging ones if they have a sufficiently but not excessively higher initial fecundity or if individuals mate assortatively with respect to their own phenotype. Furthermore, the aging phenotype outcompetes the non-aging one or resists dominance of the latter for a longer period in populations composed of genuine males and females compared to populations of simultaneous hermaphrodites. Finally, whereas sterilizing parasites promote non-aging, the effect of mortality-enhancing parasites is to enable longer persistence of the aging phenotype relative to when parasites are absent. Since the aging individuals replace the non-aging ones in diverse scenarios commonly found in nature, our study provides important insights into why aging has evolved in most, but not all organisms.

Links

• EF15_003/0000469, research and development project: Name: Cetocoen Plus
• EF16_013/0001761, research and development project: Name: RECETOX RI
• LM2015051, research and development project: Name: Centrum pro výzkum toxických látek v prostředí (Acronym: RECETOX RI)

Investor: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the CR