A gene regulatory network simulation of heterosis

We describe a simulation of multi-genic heterosis using Boolean gene regulatory networks. Hybrid vigor, or heterosis, is the phenomenon whereby the offspring of crosses from separate populations often perform better than inbreds with respect to growth rate, fertility and disease resistance. Because of its great economic importance, the genetic and molecular basis of heterosis has been subject of many scientific studies. However, attempts to model the phenomenon from a systems biology point of view have been quite abstract. Our model allows the generation, evolution, homologous recombination and hybridisation of networks which display the properties of gene regulatory networks observed in biology in a simulated environment. We can thus test the current hypotheses about heterosis and investigate which factors affect it.