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Mutational robustness can facilitate adaptation.

Jeremy A Draghi1, Todd L Parsons, Günter P Wagner

  • 1Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.

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|January 22, 2010
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Mutational robustness can hinder or help adaptation. In robust populations, neutral diversity can speed up adaptation if the number of accessible phenotypes is limited, resolving a key evolutionary theory ambiguity.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Population genetics
  • Theoretical biology

Background:

  • Conflicting reports exist on whether mutational robustness aids or hinders adaptation.
  • Understanding the robustness-evolvability relationship is crucial for molecular evolution, evolutionary developmental biology, and protein engineering.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantitatively resolve the ambiguity surrounding the relationship between mutational robustness and evolvability.
  • To determine the conditions under which robustness impedes or facilitates adaptation.

Main Methods:

  • A general population genetics model was employed.
  • Analysis focused on the interplay of population size, mutation rate, and fitness landscape structure.

Main Results:

  • Mutational robustness can impede or facilitate adaptation.
  • Neutral diversity in robust populations can accelerate adaptation under specific conditions.
  • The accessibility of phenotypes via mutation relative to the total number of phenotypes is a key factor.

Conclusions:

  • The study provides a quantitative resolution to the robustness-evolvability debate.
  • Robustness's effect on adaptation is context-dependent, influenced by population genetics parameters and fitness landscape characteristics.