scispace - formally typeset
Journal ArticleDOI

Empirical fitness landscapes and the predictability of evolution

TLDR
This work reviews recent empirical and theoretical developments of the genotype–fitness map, identifies methodological issues and organizing principles, and discusses possibilities to develop more realistic fitness landscape models.
Abstract
A central topic in biology concerns how genotypes determine phenotypes and functions of organisms that affect their evolutionary fitness. This Review discusses recent advances in the development of empirical fitness landscapes and their contribution to theoretical analyses of the predictability of evolution. The genotype–fitness map (that is, the fitness landscape) is a key determinant of evolution, yet it has mostly been used as a superficial metaphor because we know little about its structure. This is now changing, as real fitness landscapes are being analysed by constructing genotypes with all possible combinations of small sets of mutations observed in phylogenies or in evolution experiments. In turn, these first glimpses of empirical fitness landscapes inspire theoretical analyses of the predictability of evolution. Here, we review these recent empirical and theoretical developments, identify methodological issues and organizing principles, and discuss possibilities to develop more realistic fitness landscape models.

read more

Citations
More filters
Posted ContentDOI

Emergence of function from single RNA sequences by Darwinian evolution

TL;DR: In this article, the discovery of both specific ATP or GTP aptamers, with micromolar affinity for their nucleotide ligand, starting each from a single, homopolymeric poly-A sequence flanked by conserved primer binding sites, was demonstrated.
Journal ArticleDOI

A study about the evolutionary dynamics and repeatability in time-varying fitness landscapes

TL;DR: It is shown that epistasis enhances oscillation in fitness despite decreased variation at the genotypic level, as revealed by an entropy analysis, and the amplitude of oscillations increases with the period of the different phases.
Posted ContentDOI

Analysis of the optimality of the Standard Genetic Code.

TL;DR: The results show that while the genetic code is sub-optimal for robustness to frameshift mutation and the ability to encode additional information in the coding region, it is very strongly selected for robusts to point mutation.
Posted ContentDOI

Evolution in Eggs and Phases: experimental evolution of fecundity and reproductive timing in Caenorhabditis elegans

TL;DR: The overarching goal of the analysis is to observe differences in reproductive fitness and observe related changes in reproductive timing, and it is found that the fluctuation and shape of the probability distribution may be informative in terms of developmental selection.
Posted ContentDOI

A computational method for predicting the most likely evolutionary trajectories in the step-wise accumulation of resistance mutations

TL;DR: A computational method to predict the most likely pathways to resistance that result from combinations of mutations that alter drug binding affinity that can be applied to any drug-target system where the drug acts by binding to the target.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI

Evolution in Mendelian Populations.

TL;DR: Page 108, last line of text, for "P/P″" read "P′/ P″."
Journal ArticleDOI

Evolution in Mendelian populations

TL;DR: The frequency of a given gene in a population may be modified by a number of conditions including recurrent mutation to and from it, migration, selection of various sorts and, far from least in importance, were chance variation.
Book

Simulated annealing

Book

Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History

TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore what the Burgess Shale tells us about evolution and the nature of history and find that it holds the remains of an ancient sea where dozens of strange creatures lived.
Journal ArticleDOI

Epistasis--the essential role of gene interactions in the structure and evolution of genetic systems.

TL;DR: There is a renewed appreciation both for the importance of studying gene interactions and for addressing these questions in a unified, quantitative manner with the advent of high-throughput functional genomics.
Related Papers (5)