O processo adaptativo e o efeito da mutabilidade

Abstract

Here we study the adaptive process in infinite and finite asexual populations, analytically and via simulation. We verify that, in the presence of certain relationships between selection and mutation rate for a set of mutations, mutability may alter both the order which adaptations happen, and the evolutionary fate (i.e. the final set of acquired adaptations) of the winning lineage. We establish the regimes of mutability and selection in which the least fit mutant prevails, in a system of a sole mutation step and two alternatives. In the presence of more than two mutations, the repeatability of the adaptive process is maximum for intermediate mutabilities and relatively small mutation networks, in which clonal interference between distinct trajectories is greater, and few trajectories are available. These results change our way of understanding what indeed mutability really does, and they may impact our current comprehension of the evolution of mutability.