title: Pleiotropy and the preservation of perfection.
abstract: A mathematical model is presented in which a single mutation can affect multiple phenotypic characters, each of which is subject to stabilizing selection. A wide range of mutations is allowed, including ones that produce extremely small phenotypic changes. The analysis shows that, when three or more characters are affected by each mutation, a single optimal genetic sequence may become common. This result provides a hypothesis to explain the low levels of variation and low rates of substitution that are observed at some loci.
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Study of Evolution, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Waxman
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Peck
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003062:Codon; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005838:Genotype; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D011336:Probability; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D012641:Selection, Genetic
chemical_list: D003062:Codon; D011506:Proteins