Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: Phenotypic evolution implies sequential rise in frequency of new genomic sequences. The speed of the rise depends, in part, on the relative fitness (selection coefficient) of the mutant versus the ancestor. Using a simple population dynamics model, we show that the relative fitness in dynamical environments is not equal to the geometric average of the fitness over individual environments. Instead, it includes a term that explicitly depends on the sequence of the environments. For slowly varying environments, this term depends only on the oriented area enclosed by the trajectory taken by the system in the environment state space. It is closely related to the well-studied geometric phases in classical and quantum physical systems. We discuss possible biological implications of these observations, focusing on evolution of novel metabolic or stress-resistant functions.
Authors: Sorin Tănase-Nicola, Ilya Nemenman
Institution: Emory University
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2167698643