Evolutionary accessibility of mutational pathways.

ABSTRACT: Functional effects of different mutations are known to combine to the total effect in highly nontrivial ways. For the trait under evolutionary selection ('fitness'), measured values over all possible combinations of a set of mutations yield a fitness landscape that determines which mutational states can be reached from a given initial genotype. Understanding the accessibility properties of fitness landscapes is conceptually important in answering questions about the predictability and repeatability of evolutionary adaptation. Here we theoretically investigate accessibility of the globally optimal state on a wide variety of model landscapes, including landscapes with tunable ruggedness as well as neutral 'holey' landscapes. We define a mutational pathway to be accessible if it contains the

SUBMITTER: Franke J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3158036 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature