Application of absorbing Markov chains to sib mating populations with selection for a pair of independent diallelic loci

In this paper we consider a sib mating population with a pair of independent diallelic loci. The average, variance, and third order moment about the mean have been calculated for the distribution representing the number of generations needed to reach an absorbing state beginning in any one of the trnsient states. Four cases are analysed: the no selection one and those cases arising from the combination of favorable selective values for the homozygous and heterozygous genotypes for both genes. The different cases are considered separately and compared, but only some typical starting cases have been reported so as to save space. No selective differences were assumed between the two sexes. The formalism of absorbing Markov chains have been used for the calculations.