Speaker
Joachim Krug
Description
Mutational robustness quantifies the effect of random mutations on
fitness. From the point of view of fitness landscapes, robust genotypes
form neutral networks of equal fitness. Using deterministic population
models it has been shown that selection favors genotypes inside such
networks, which results in increased mutational robustness. Here we
demonstrate that this effect is massively enhanced by
recombination. Our results are based on a detailed analysis of mesa-
shaped fitness landscapes and numerical simulations on percolation
landscapes and an empirical landscape. We argue that the favorable
effect of recombination on mutational robustness is a highly universal
feature that may have played an important role in the emergence and
maintenance of mechanisms of genetic exchange.
Primary author
Joachim Krug
