Evolutionary Hysteresis: Cycling about in a Rugged Landscape

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Piszkin, Luke, Vural, Dervis Can
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866908724496433152
author Piszkin, Luke
Vural, Dervis Can
author_facet Piszkin, Luke
Vural, Dervis Can
contents In this work, we integrate theoretical modeling, molecular simulation, and empirical analysis to identify and characterize evolutionary hysteresis. We first show how epistatic interactions create bistable fitness landscapes and structural hysteresis in a two-locus Wright-Fisher model, revealing two distinct hysteresis regimes under cyclic and noisy selection. Notably, an epistatically constrained population achieves maximal average fitness at an intermediate level of environmental stochasticity. We then extend this framework to more complex systems, demonstrating robust hysteresis loops in both a disordered multi-locus model and in biophysically realistic simulation of protein structural flexibility. Finally, we present direct empirical evidence of evolutionary hysteresis. By analyzing two decades of metagenomic time-series data from freshwater C. Nanopelagicaceae experiencing strong seasonal temperature cycles, we find that approximately 65% of seasonally oscillating alleles exhibit statistically significant hysteresis. Together, these results establish hysteresis as a general, measurable feature of evolution and a potential probe of complex fitness landscapes.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_14090
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Evolutionary Hysteresis: Cycling about in a Rugged Landscape
Piszkin, Luke
Vural, Dervis Can
Populations and Evolution
In this work, we integrate theoretical modeling, molecular simulation, and empirical analysis to identify and characterize evolutionary hysteresis. We first show how epistatic interactions create bistable fitness landscapes and structural hysteresis in a two-locus Wright-Fisher model, revealing two distinct hysteresis regimes under cyclic and noisy selection. Notably, an epistatically constrained population achieves maximal average fitness at an intermediate level of environmental stochasticity. We then extend this framework to more complex systems, demonstrating robust hysteresis loops in both a disordered multi-locus model and in biophysically realistic simulation of protein structural flexibility. Finally, we present direct empirical evidence of evolutionary hysteresis. By analyzing two decades of metagenomic time-series data from freshwater C. Nanopelagicaceae experiencing strong seasonal temperature cycles, we find that approximately 65% of seasonally oscillating alleles exhibit statistically significant hysteresis. Together, these results establish hysteresis as a general, measurable feature of evolution and a potential probe of complex fitness landscapes.
title Evolutionary Hysteresis: Cycling about in a Rugged Landscape
topic Populations and Evolution
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.14090