Quantifying slow evolutionary dynamics in RNA fitness landscapes.
We re-examine the evolutionary dynamics of RNA secondary structures under directional selection towards an optimum RNA structure. We find that the punctuated equilibria lead to a very slow approach to the optimum, following on average an inverse power of the evolutionary time. In addition, our study of the trajectories shows that the out-of-equilibrium effects due to the evolutionary process are very weak. In particular, the distribution of genotypes is close to that arising during equilibrium stabilizing selection. As a consequence, the evolutionary dynamics leave almost no measurable out-of-equilibrium trace, only the transition genotypes (close to the border between different periods of stasis) have atypical mutational properties.
Univ Paris-Sud, UMR8626, LPTMS, Orsay, France. petr.sulc@polytechnique.edu
Petr
P
Sulc
Andreas
A
Wagner
Olivier C
OC
Martin
D019295:Computational Biology; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D056726:Genetic Association Studies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005838:Genotype; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010641:Phenotype; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D013997:Time Factors
D012313:RNA