2023/09/28 by Partha Pratim Chakraborty, Louis R. Nemzer, Rees Kassen · 1 voice · 2 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Social Sciences · #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation #Plant and animal studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/evlett/qrad047
openalex publication_date 2023/09/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Whether and how the spatial arrangement of a population influences adaptive evolution has puzzled evolutionary biologists. Theoretical models make conflicting predictions about the probability that a beneficial mutation will become fixed in a population for certain topologies like stars, in which "leaf" populations are connected through a central "hub." To date, these predictions have not been evaluated under realistic experimental conditions. Here, we test the prediction that topology can change the dynamics of fixation both in vitro and in silico by tracking the frequency of a beneficial mutant under positive selection as it spreads through networks of different topologies. Our results provide empirical support that meta-population topology can increase the likelihood that a beneficial mutation spreads, broaden the conditions under which this phenomenon is thought to occur, and points the way toward using network topology to amplify the effects of weakly favored mutations under directed evolution in industrial applications.