title: Extinction probabilities and stationary distributions of mobile genetic elements in prokaryotes: The birth-death-diversification model.
abstract: Theoretical approaches are essential to our understanding of the complex dynamics of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) within genomes. Recently, the birth-death-diversification model was developed to describe the dynamics of mobile promoters (MPs), a particular class of MGEs in prokaryotes. A unique feature of this model is that genetic diversification of elements was included. To explore the implications of diversification on the longterm fate of MGE lineages, in this contribution we analyze the extinction probabilities, extinction times and equilibrium solutions of the birth-death-diversification model. We find that diversification increases both the survival and growth rate of MGE families, but the strength of this effect depends on the rate of horizontal gene transfer (HGT). We also find that the distribution of MGE families per genome is not necessarily monotonically decreasing, as observed for MPs, but may have a peak in the distribution that is related to the HGT rate. For MPs specifically, we find that new families have a high extinction probability, and predict that the number of MPs is increasing, albeit at a very slow rate. Additionally, we develop an extension of the birth-death-diversification model which allows MGEs in different regions of the genome, for example coding and non-coding, to be described by different rates. This extension may offer a potential explanation as to why the majority of MPs are located in non-promoter regions of the genome.
authors.affiliation: Applied Mathematics, Western University, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada. Electronic address: ndrakos@uwo.ca.
authors.forename: Nicole E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Drakos
authors.affiliation: Applied Mathematics, Western University, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada. Electronic address: lwahl@uwo.ca.
authors.forename: Lindi M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Wahl
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics; D003198:Computer Simulation; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D016678:Genome; D020071:Interspersed Repetitive Sequences; D008390:Markov Chains; D008957:Models, Genetic; D011387:Prokaryotic Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic
keywords: Branching processes; Extinction probability; Extinction times; Markov chain; Mobile genetic elements; Mobile promoters