Question

Two individuals in an asexual population have distinct, beneficial mutations. When their descendants compete with each other, one of those mutations is lost to extinctions. This phenomenon is called______________.a. selective interference.b. clonal interference.c. the twofold cost of males.d. Bateman's principle.e. Fisher's runaway.

Answer 1

B. clonal interference

Step-by-step explanation:

Clonal interference refers to the phenomenon in which multiple beneficial mutations in different lineages compete with each other. These lineages should exhibit no recombination for clonal interference to be operative. Without any recombination, several beneficial mutations compete as they cannot find space in the genome of the organisms. This leads to the extinction of one or more beneficial mutations from these lineages.

In the given example, two individuals reproduce by asexual reproduction and therefore, their genomes do not experience recombination. Clonal interference leads to the extinction of one of the beneficial mutations from their descendants.