Evolutionary adaptation is facilitated by the presence of lethal genotypes

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Blavatska, Viktoria, Waclaw, Bartlomiej
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Blavatska, Viktoria
Waclaw, Bartlomiej
author_facet Blavatska, Viktoria
Waclaw, Bartlomiej
contents The adaptation rate in theoretical models of biological evolution increases with the mutation rate but only to a point when mutations into lethal states cause extinction. One would expect that removing such states should be beneficial for evolution. We show here that, counter-intuitively, lethal mutations speed up adaptation on rugged fitness landscapes with many fitness maxima and minima, if strong competition for resources exist. We consider a modified stochastic version of the quasispecies model with two types of genotypes, viable and lethal, and show that increasing the rate of lethal mutations decreases the time to evolve the best-fit genotype. This can be explained by an increased rate of crossing fitness valleys, facilitated by reduced selection against less-fit variants.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2301_07599
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Evolutionary adaptation is facilitated by the presence of lethal genotypes
Blavatska, Viktoria
Waclaw, Bartlomiej
Populations and Evolution
Biological Physics
The adaptation rate in theoretical models of biological evolution increases with the mutation rate but only to a point when mutations into lethal states cause extinction. One would expect that removing such states should be beneficial for evolution. We show here that, counter-intuitively, lethal mutations speed up adaptation on rugged fitness landscapes with many fitness maxima and minima, if strong competition for resources exist. We consider a modified stochastic version of the quasispecies model with two types of genotypes, viable and lethal, and show that increasing the rate of lethal mutations decreases the time to evolve the best-fit genotype. This can be explained by an increased rate of crossing fitness valleys, facilitated by reduced selection against less-fit variants.
title Evolutionary adaptation is facilitated by the presence of lethal genotypes
topic Populations and Evolution
Biological Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.07599