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Mutating away from your enemies: The evolution of mutation rate in a host–parasite system

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  • M’Gonigle, L.K.
  • Shen, J.J.
  • Otto, S.P.

Abstract

The rate at which mutations occur in nature is itself under natural selection. While a general reduction of mutation rates is advantageous for species inhabiting constant environments, higher mutation rates can be advantageous for those inhabiting fluctuating environments that impose on-going directional selection. Analogously, species involved in antagonistic co-evolutionary arms races, such as hosts and parasites, can also benefit from higher mutation rates. We use modifier theory, combined with simulations, to investigate the evolution of mutation rate in such a host–parasite system. We derive an expression for the evolutionary stable mutation rate between two alleles, each of whose fitness depends on the current genetic composition of the other species. Recombination has been shown to weaken the strength of selection acting on mutation modifiers, and accordingly, we find that the evolutionarily attracting mutation rate is lower when recombination between the selected and the modifier locus is high. Cyclical dynamics are potentially commonplace for loci governing antagonistic species interactions. We characterize the parameter space where such cyclical dynamics occur and show that the evolution of large mutation rates tends to inhibit cycling and thus eliminates further selection on modifiers of the mutation rate. We then find using computer simulations that stochastic fluctuations in finite populations can increase the size of the region where cycles occur, creating selection for higher mutation rates. We finally use simulations to investigate the model behaviour when there are more than two alleles, finding that the region where cycling occurs becomes smaller and the evolutionarily attracting mutation rate lower when there are more alleles.

Suggested Citation

  • M’Gonigle, L.K. & Shen, J.J. & Otto, S.P., 2009. "Mutating away from your enemies: The evolution of mutation rate in a host–parasite system," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 75(4), pages 301-311.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:thpobi:v:75:y:2009:i:4:p:301-311
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2009.03.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Csaba Pal & María D. Maciá & Antonio Oliver & Ira Schachar & Angus Buckling, 2007. "Coevolution with viruses drives the evolution of bacterial mutation rates," Nature, Nature, vol. 450(7172), pages 1079-1081, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Liberman, Uri & Behar, Hilla & Feldman, Marcus W., 2016. "Evolution of reduced mutation under frequency-dependent selection," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 52-59.
    2. Greenspoon, Philip B. & Mideo, Nicole, 2017. "Evolutionary rescue of a parasite population by mutation rate evolution," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 64-75.
    3. Blanquart, François, 2014. "The demography of a metapopulation in an environment changing in time and space," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 1-9.
    4. Shen, Hao & Liberman, Uri & Feldman, Marcus W., 2020. "Evolution of transmission modifiers under frequency-dependent selection and transmission in constant or fluctuating environments," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 56-63.
    5. MacPherson, Ailene & Keeling, Matthew J. & Otto, Sarah P., 2021. "Coevolution fails to maintain genetic variation in a host–parasite model with constant finite population size," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 10-21.

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