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Figure 1 | BMC Evolutionary Biology

Figure 1

From: Home and away- the evolutionary dynamics of homing endonucleases

Figure 1

A Molecular Rock-Paper-Scissors game: The relationships between carriers of the X, Y and Z alleles are descried through three inequalities (I, II, III). (I) Z outcompetes X because of the activity of the homing endonuclease during sex (with probability hm), (II) Y beats Z, and (III) X beats Y because of the decrease in relative fitness associated with the homing ability (parameter t) and with the splicing element (parameter s). The central arrows depict the serial succession of the state of a particular homing endonuclease target site: The empty target site (X) is converted to Z through invasion by the homing endonuclease; the homing endonuclease in a Z allele can undergo mutation to become a Y allele with a dysfunctional homing endonuclease, which provides immunity to invasion by Z. Finally, a precise deletion of the intein/intron can restore the empty target site.

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