2022/02/18 by B. K. Clark, Clark, B. K.
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph) #Biology #Chromosomal inversion #Chromosome #Computational Physics (physics.comp-ph) #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #FOS: Physical sciences #Gene #Genetics #Karyotype #Mutation rate #Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms #Physics #Population #Protein Structure and Dynamics #Recombination #Sequence (biology) #Statistical physics #Thermodynamics #physics.bio-ph #physics.comp-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2202.08950
published in arXiv (Cornell University) (Cornell University) · 23 pages, 5 eps figures
openalex publication_date 2022/02/18 · arxiv created 2022/06/19 · arxiv updated 2022/06/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/08
Gene sequences of a deme evolve over time as new chromosome inversions appear in a population via mutations, some of which will replace an existing sequence. The underlying biochemical processes that generates these and other mutations are governed by the laws of thermodynamics, although the connection between thermodynamics and the generation and propagation of mutations are often neglected. Here, chromosome inversions are modeled as a specific example of mutations in an evolving system. The thermodynamic concepts of chemical potential, energy, and temperature are linked to the input parameters that include inversion rate, recombination loss rate and deme size. An energy barrier to existing gene sequence replacement is a natural consequence of the model. Finally, the model calculations are compared to the observed chromosome inversion distribution of the Lachancea genus of yeast. The model introduced in this work should be applicable to other types of mutations in evolving systems.