Mutation load under additive fitness effects.

ABSTRACT: Under the traditional mutation load model based on multiplicative fitness effects, the load in a population is 1-e-U , where U is the genomic deleterious mutation rate. Because this load becomes high under large U, synergistic epistasis has been proposed as one possible means of reducing the load. However, experiments on model organisms attempting to detect synergistic epistasis have often focused on a quadratic fitness model, with the resulting general conclusion being that epistasis is neither common nor strong. Here, I present a model of additive fitness effects and show that, unlike multiplicative effects, the equilibrium frequency of an allele under additivity is dependent on the average absolute fitness of the population. The additive model then results in a load of U/(U +1), which i

SUBMITTER: Bergen AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4957254 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature