dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaEvolvability is a Selectable Trait
| Authors | David J. Earl, Michael W. Deem |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | q-bio/0407012 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0407012 |
| DOI | 10.1073/pnas.0404656101 |
Abstract
Concomitant with the evolution of biological diversity must have been the evolution of mechanisms that facilitate evolution, due to the essentially infinite complexity of protein sequence space. We describe how evolvability can be an object of Darwinian selection, emphasizing the collective nature of the process. We quantify our theory with computer simulations of protein evolution. These simulations demonstrate that rapid or dramatic environmental change leads to selection for greater evolvability. The selective pressure for large scale genetic moves, such as DNA exchange, becomes increasingly strong as the environmental conditions become more uncertain. Our results demonstrate that evolvability is a selectable trait and allow for the explanation of a large body of experimental results.
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"abstract": "Concomitant with the evolution of biological diversity must have been the\nevolution of mechanisms that facilitate evolution, due to the essentially\ninfinite complexity of protein sequence space. We describe how evolvability can\nbe an object of Darwinian selection, emphasizing the collective nature of the\nprocess. We quantify our theory with computer simulations of protein evolution.\nThese simulations demonstrate that rapid or dramatic environmental change leads\nto selection for greater evolvability. The selective pressure for large scale\ngenetic moves, such as DNA exchange, becomes increasingly strong as the\nenvironmental conditions become more uncertain. Our results demonstrate that\nevolvability is a selectable trait and allow for the explanation of a large\nbody of experimental results.",
"arxiv_id": "q-bio/0407012",
"authors": [
"David J. Earl",
"Michael W. Deem"
],
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"q-bio.PE"
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"doi": "10.1073/pnas.0404656101",
"title": "Evolvability is a Selectable Trait",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0407012"
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