[Selection and mutation from the theoretical information point of view--limits of the preservation of genetic information].
There is no doubt that evolution can only operate in accordance with the laws of thermodynamics. To transform this simple perception into a statement that can be quantified it is necessary to examine how the entropy (or the information content) changes by means of the two main factors of evolution: selection and mutation. In the present paper this aim was reached by using the methods of information theory. That evolution becomes possible the change of information by mutation and selection must not be negative in the long run. Consequently an upper limit for the information content of the genome must be assumed. If the evolution as a self-optimizing process gains this upper limit it reaches a dynamic equilibrium at which the increase of entropy by mutation balances the decrease of entropy by selection. In particular it was examined under which circumstances of dynamic equilibrium master-genotypes (genotypes that can preserve their specific sequence over a long time) can exist.
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D005075:Biological Evolution; D016678:Genome; D005838:Genotype; D007257:Information Theory; D008433:Mathematics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D012984:Software
Selection und Mutation aus informationstheoretischer Sicht--Grenzen der Erhaltbarkeit von genetischer Information.