dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaOptimal Mutation Rates in Dynamic Environments
| Authors | Martin Nilsson, Nigel Snoad |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0004042 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0004042 |
Abstract
In this paper we study the evolution of the mutation rate for simple organisms in dynamic environments. A model with multiple fitness coding loci tracking a moving fitness peak is developed and an analytical expression for the optimal mutation rate is derived. Surprisingly it turns out that the optimal mutation rate per genome is approximately independent of genome length, something that also has been observed in nature. Simulations confirm the theoretical predictions. We also suggest an explanation for the difference in mutation frequency between RNA and DNA based organisms.
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"abstract": "In this paper we study the evolution of the mutation rate for simple\norganisms in dynamic environments. A model with multiple fitness coding loci\ntracking a moving fitness peak is developed and an analytical expression for\nthe optimal mutation rate is derived. Surprisingly it turns out that the\noptimal mutation rate per genome is approximately independent of genome length,\nsomething that also has been observed in nature. Simulations confirm the\ntheoretical predictions. We also suggest an explanation for the difference in\nmutation frequency between RNA and DNA based organisms.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0004042",
"authors": [
"Martin Nilsson",
"Nigel Snoad"
],
"categories": [
"physics.bio-ph",
"q-bio"
],
"title": "Optimal Mutation Rates in Dynamic Environments",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0004042"
},
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