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Keywords = survival of the flattest

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18 pages, 828 KB  
Article
The Role of Pleiotropy and Epistasis on Evolvability and Robustness in a Two-Peak Fitness Landscape
by Priyanka Mehra and Arend Hintze
Biology 2024, 13(12), 1003; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13121003 - 2 Dec 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1771
Abstract
Understanding the balance between robustness and evolvability is crucial in evolutionary dynamics. This study aims to determine how varying mutation rates and valley depths affect this interplay during adaptation. Using a two-peak fitness landscape model requiring populations to cross a fitness valley to [...] Read more.
Understanding the balance between robustness and evolvability is crucial in evolutionary dynamics. This study aims to determine how varying mutation rates and valley depths affect this interplay during adaptation. Using a two-peak fitness landscape model requiring populations to cross a fitness valley to reach a higher peak, we investigate how mutation rates and valley depths influence both evolvability—the capacity to generate beneficial mutations—and mutational robustness, which stabilizes populations at the highest peak. Our experiments reveal that at low mutation rates, populations struggle to cross fitness valleys, reducing the occurrence of pioneers. As mutation rates increase, valley crossing becomes more frequent, but organisms forming a majority at the highest peak are less common and tend to arise at intermediate mutation rates. Although pioneers reach the highest peak, they are often replaced by more mutationally robust organisms that later form a majority. This suggests that while evolvability aids in valley crossing, long-term stability at the highest peak requires greater mutational robustness. Our findings highlight that adaptations in epistasis and pleiotropy facilitate the trade-off between evolvability and robustness, providing insights into how organisms navigate complex fitness landscapes. These results can also inform the design of genetic algorithms that balance evolvability with robustness to optimize outcomes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Evolutionary Biology)
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14 pages, 410 KB  
Article
Reducing Epistasis and Pleiotropy Can Avoid the Survival of the Flattest Tragedy
by Priyanka Mehra and Arend Hintze
Biology 2024, 13(3), 193; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13030193 - 17 Mar 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2168
Abstract
This study investigates whether reducing epistasis and pleiotropy enhances mutational robustness in evolutionary adaptation, utilizing an indirect encoded model within the “survival of the flattest” (SoF) fitness landscape. By simulating genetic variations and their phenotypic consequences, we explore organisms’ adaptive mechanisms to maintain [...] Read more.
This study investigates whether reducing epistasis and pleiotropy enhances mutational robustness in evolutionary adaptation, utilizing an indirect encoded model within the “survival of the flattest” (SoF) fitness landscape. By simulating genetic variations and their phenotypic consequences, we explore organisms’ adaptive mechanisms to maintain positions on higher, narrower evolutionary peaks amidst environmental and genetic pressures. Our results reveal that organisms can indeed sustain their advantageous positions by minimizing the complexity of genetic interactions—specifically, by reducing the levels of epistasis and pleiotropy. This finding suggests a counterintuitive strategy for evolutionary stability: simpler genetic architectures, characterized by fewer gene interactions and multifunctional genes, confer a survival advantage by enhancing mutational robustness. This study contributes to our understanding of the genetic underpinnings of adaptability and robustness, challenging traditional views that equate complexity with fitness in dynamic environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Evolutionary Biology)
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