Single-locus gametophytic incompatibility: the symmetric equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable

Abstract

The deterministic dynamics of the classical single-locus multiple-allele model of gametophytic incompatibility is analyzed with the intention to prove the conjecture that the symmetric state (uniform distribution of genotypes) is the only polymorphic equilibrium and that this equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable in the interior of the frequency simplex. It is shown that the minimum allelic frequency increases strictly over the generations as long as a uniform allelic distribution is not realized. Hence, the minimum allelic frequency is a Ljapunov function for the invariant set of genotypic frequencies characterized by a uniform allelic distribution. Within this set, the uniform genotypic distribution is approached in an exponential fashion, which proves the assertion. An evolutionary optimization rule associated with the global convergence to the symmetric state is implied by the fact that at this state the overall amount of pollen elimination resulting from incompatible crosses is minimized.