Distribution of the fittest individuals and the rate of Muller's ratchet in a model with overlapping generations.

ABSTRACT: Muller's ratchet is a paradigmatic model for the accumulation of deleterious mutations in a population of finite size. A click of the ratchet occurs when all individuals with the least number of deleterious mutations are lost irreversibly due to a stochastic fluctuation. In spite of the simplicity of the model, a quantitative understanding of the process remains an open challenge. In contrast to previous works, we here study a Moran model of the ratchet with overlapping generations. Employing an approximation which describes the fittest individuals as one class and the rest as a second class, we obtain closed analytical expressions of the ratchet rate in the rare clicking regime. As a click in this regime is caused by a rare, large fluctuation from a metastable state, we do not resort to a

SUBMITTER: Metzger JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3820511 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature