Effect of spatial constraints on Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium

Panmixia is a key issue in maintaining genetic diversity, which facilitates evolutionary potential during environmental changes. Additionally, conservation biologists suggest the importance of avoiding small or subdivided populations, which are prone to losing genetic diversity. In this paper, computer simulations were performed to the genetic drift of neutral alleles in random mating populations with or without spatial constraints by randomly choosing a mate among the closest neighbours. The results demonstrated that the number of generations required for the neutral allele to become homozygous (Th) varied proportionally to the population size and also strongly correlated with spatial constraints. The average Th for populations of the same size with spatial constraints was approximately one-and-a-half times longer than without constraints. With spatial constraints, homozygous population clusters formed, which reduced local diversity but preserved global diversity. Therefore, panmixia might be harmful in preserving the genetic diversity of an entire population. The results also suggested that the gene flow or gene exchange among the subdivided populations must be carefully processed to restrict diseases transmission or death during transportation and to monitor the genetic diversity. The application of this concept to similar systems, such as information transfer among peers, is also discussed.