Mutational load, inbreeding depression and heterosis in subdivided populations

This paper examines the extent to which empirical estimates of inbreeding depression and inter-population heterosis in subdivided populations, as well as the effects of local population size on mean fitness, can be explained in terms of current estimates of mutation rates, and the distribution of selection coefficients against deleterious mutations provided by population genomics data. Using population genetics models, numerical predictions of the genetic load, inbreeding depression and heterosis were obtained for a broad range of selection coefficients and mutation rates. The models allowed for the possibility of very high mutation rates per nucleotide site, as is sometimes observed for epiallelic mutations in plants. There was fairly good quantitative agreement between the theoretical predictions and empirical estimates of heterosis and the effects of population size on genetic load, on the assumption that the deleterious mutation rate per individual per generation is approximately on...