In nonrecombining genomes, genetic linkage can be an important evolutionary force. Linkage generates interference interactions, by which simultaneously occurring mutations affect each other’s chance of fixation. Here, we develop a comprehensive model of adaptive evolution in linked genomes, which integrates interference interactions between multiple beneficial and deleterious mutations into a unified framework. By an approximate analytical solution, we predict the fixation rates of these mutations, as well as the probabilities of beneficial and deleterious alleles at fixed genomic sites. We find that interference interactions generate a regime of emergent neutrality : all genomic sites with selection coefficients smaller in magnitude than a characteristic threshold have nearly random fixed alleles, and both beneficial and deleterious mutations at these sites have nearly neutral fixation rates. We show that this dynamic limits not only the speed of adaptation, but also a population’s degree of adaptation in its current environment. We apply the model to different scenarios: stationary adaptation in a time-dependent environment and approach to equilibrium in a fixed environment. In both cases, the analytical predictions are in good agreement with numerical simulations. Our results suggest that interference can severely compromise biological functions in an adapting population, which sets viability limits on adaptive evolution under linkage. Received June 30, 2011. Accepted September 8, 2011. Copyright © 2011 by the Genetics Society of America Available freely online through the author-supported open access option. « Previous | Next Article » Table of Contents OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE This Article Published online before print September 16, 2011 , doi: 10.1534/genetics.111.132027 Genetics December 1, 2011 vol. 189 no. 4 1361-1375 Free via Open Access: OA » Abstract OA Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supporting Information Classifications Investigations Population and Evolutionary Genetics Services Email this article to a friend Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Download to citation manager Citing Articles Load citing article information Google Scholar Articles by Schiffels, S. PubMed PubMed citation Articles by Schiffels, S. Related Content Load related web page information This Months's Issue December 2011, 189 (4) Alert me to new issues of Genetics ABOUT SUBSCRIBE INFO FOR AUTHORS ONLINE SUBMISSION EDITORIAL BOARD CONTACT ALERTS HELP ADVERTISING RSS Help Contact Us International Access Link Print ISSN: 0016-6731 Online ISSN: 1943-2631 Copyright © 2011 by the Genetics Society of America phone: 412-268-1812 fax: 412-268-1813 email: genetics-gsa@andrew.cmu.edu
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