Frequency-dependent selection maintains clonal diversity in an asexual organism

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Abstract
Asexual organisms can be genetically variable and evolve through time, yet it is not known how genetic diversity is maintained in populations. In sexual organisms, negative frequency-dependent selection plays a role in maintaining diversity at some loci, but in asexual organisms, this mechanism could provide a general explanation for persistent genetic diversity because it acts on the whole genome and not just on some polymorphisms within a genome. Using field manipulations, we show that negative frequency-dependent selection maintains clonal diversity in an asexual mite species, and we link predicted equilibrium clonal frequencies to average frequencies in space and time. Intense frequency-dependent selection is likely to be a general mechanism for persistent genetic diversity in asexual organisms.