METAANALYSES OF THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MULTILOCUS HETEROZYGOSITY ANDFITNESS

Meta-analyses of published correlation coefficients between multilocus heterozygosity (MLH) and two fitness surrogates, growth rate and fluc tuating asymmetry, suggested that the strength of these correlations a re generally weak. A variety of plants and animals was included in the meta-analyses. A statistically homogeneous group of MLH-growth rate c orrelation coefficients that included both plants and animals yielded a common correlation of r(z) = 0.133. A common correlation of r(z) = - 0.170 was estimated for correlations between MLH and fluctuating asymm etry in three species of salmonid fishes. These results suggest that s election, including overdominance, has at most a weak effect at allozy me loci and cast some doubt on the widely held notion that heterozygos ity and individual fitness are strongly correlated.