FITNESS LANDSCAPE EPISTASIS AND RECOMBINATION

Manuel Beltrán Del Río, Christopher R. Stephens and David A. Rosenblueth
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Manuel Beltrán Del Río: Center for Diseases of the Pancreas, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, 350 Community Dr, Manhasset, NY 11030, USA2C3 – Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Circuito Exterior, A. Postal 70-543, México D.F. 04510, Mexico
Christopher R. Stephens: C3 – Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM, Circuito Exterior, A. Postal 70-543, México D.F. 04510, Mexico
David A. Rosenblueth: C3 – Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Instituto de Investigaciones en Matemáticas, Aplicadas y en Sistemas, UNAM, A. Postal 20-726, México D.F. 01000, Mexico

Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), 2015, vol. 18, issue 07n08, 1-38

Abstract: Homologous recombination is an important operator in the evolution of biological organisms. However, there is still no clear, generally accepted understanding of why it exists and under what circumstances it is useful. In this paper, we consider its utility in the context of an infinite population haploid model with selection and homologous recombination. We define utility in terms of two metrics — the increase in frequency of fit genotypes, and the increase in average population fitness, relative to those associated with selection only. Explicitly, we explore the full parameter space of a two-locus two-allele system, showing, as a function of the landscape and the initial population, that recombination is beneficial in terms of these metrics in two distinct regimes: a relatively landscape independent regime — the search regime — where recombination aids in the search for a fit genotype that is absent or at low frequency in the population; and the modular regime, where recombination allows for the juxtaposition of fit “modules” or Building Blocks (BBs). Thus, we conclude that the ubiquity and utility of recombination is intimately associated with the existence of modularity and redundancy in biological fitness landscapes.

Keywords: Population genetics model; building blocks; fitness landscapes; modularity; redundancy; epistasis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:acsxxx:v:18:y:2015:i:07n08:n:s0219525915500265

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DOI: 10.1142/S0219525915500265

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