Protein evolution on rugged landscapes.
We analyze a mathematical model of protein evolution in which the evolutionary process is viewed as hill-climbing on a random fitness landscape. In studying the structure of such landscapes, we note that a large number of local optima exist, and we calculate the time and number of mutational changes until a protein gets trapped at a local optimum. Such a hill-climbing process may underlie the evolution of antibody molecules by somatic hypermutation.
Macken
C A
CA
Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM 87545.
Perelson
A S
AS
D005075:Biological Evolution; D008433:Mathematics; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011336:Probability; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
D011506:Proteins