RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Generation of Variation and Mean Fitness Increase: Necessity is the Mother of Genetic Invention
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 229351
DO 10.1101/229351
A1 Yoav Ram
A1 Lee Altenberg
A1 Uri Liberman
A1 Marcus W. Feldman
YR 2017
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/12/05/229351.abstract
AB Generation of variation may be detrimental in well-adapted populations evolving under constant selection. In a constant environment, genetic modifiers that reduce the rate at which variation is generated by processes such as mutation and migration, succeed. However, departures from this reduction principle have been demonstrated. Here we analyze a general model of evolution under constant selection where the rate at which variation is generated depends on the individual. We find that if a modifier allele increases the rate at which individuals of below-average fitness generate variation, then it will increase in frequency and increase the population mean fitness. This principle applies to phenomena such as stress-induced mutagenesis and condition-dependent dispersal, and exemplifies “Necessity is the mother of genetic invention.”