An interplay of resource availability, population size and mutation rate potentiates the evolution of metabolic signaling.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Asexually reproducing populations of single cells evolve through mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift. Environmental conditions in which the evolution takes place define the emergent fitness landscapes. In this work, we used Avida-a digital evolution framework-to uncover a hitherto unexplored interaction between mutation rates, population size, and the relative abundance of metabolizable resources, and its effect on evolutionary outcomes in small populations of digital organisms.

Results

Over each simulation, the population evolved to one of several states, each associated with a single dominant phenotype with its associated fitness and genotype. For a low mutation rate, acquisition of fitness by organisms was accompanied with, and dependent on, an incre

SUBMITTER: Kumawat B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8028831 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature