MEASUREMENT OF GENE FREQUENCY DRIFT IN SMALL POPULATIONS

Evolution of Drift Robustness in Small Populations of Digital Organisms

Most mutations are deleterious and cause a reduction in population mean fitness known as the mutational load. In small populations, weakened selection against slightly-deleterious mutations results in an additional reduction in fitness: the drift load. Many studies have established that populations can evolve a reduced mutational load by evolving mutational robustness, but it is uncertain wheth...

Genetic Drift in Populations of Distorting Gene Complexes

We use stochastic population models to study the evolution of distorting gene complexes. Distorting gene complexes, or distorters, are chromosomal regions characterized by meiotic drive: a heterozygote bearing the distorter passes it to more than 50% of offspring. Homozygotes bearing the distorting complex are sterile. Although distorters promote themselves at the expense of other genes in the ...

Genetic Drift in Populations of Ultraselfish Gene Complexes

We use stochastic population models to study the evolution of Ultraselfish Gene Complexes (USGC’s). USGC’s are chromosomal regions characterized by segregation distortion: a heterozygote bearing the USGC passes it to more than 50% of offspring. USGC-bearing homozygotes are sterile. USGC’s promote themselves at the expense of other genes in the same genome. They have been observed in animal, pla...

Negative Drift in Populations

An important step in gaining a better understanding of the stochastic dynamics of evolving populations, is the development of appropriate analytical tools. We present a new drift theorem for populations that allows properties of their long-term behaviour, e.g. the runtime of evolutionary algorithms, to be derived from simple conditions on the onestep behaviour of their variation operators and s...

Frequency of Apolipoprotein E Alleles in Iranian Populations