Epistasis and Adaptation on Fitness Landscapes

Epistasis occurs when the effect of a mutation depends on its carrier's genetic background. Despite increasing evidence that epistasis for fitness is common, role during evolution contentious. Fitness landscapes, which are mappings genotype or phenotype to fitness, capture full extent and complexity epistasis. landscape theory has shown how affects course outcome evolution. Moreover, by measuring competitive sets tens thousands connected genotypes, empirical landscapes have frequent measure, choice mutations landscape, environment in it was measured. In this article, I review experiments their implications adaptation. discuss theoretical expectations light highlight open challenges future directions toward integrating data incorporating ecological factors.