The role of mutations in whole genome duplication

Abstract

Genetic mutation is an essential factor in the evolution of biological organisms and a driving force of phenotypical innovation. On rare occasions, nature takes a major evolutionary leap during which an organism's gene repertoire suddenly doubled. Genetic mutation affects both the whole genome duplication as it happens, and also during all the subsequent evolutionary steps. We develop a Boolean model of gene regulatory networks that simulates the duplication event and subsequent Darwinian evolution using an evolutionary algorithm. We analyze the role of these two different types of mutations on synthetic systems. Our results show that high duplication mutation rate triggers the development of new phenotypes, advantageous in a changing environment, to the detriment of environmental robustness. Additionally, our research highlights the necessity of a low evolutionary mutation rate for the survival of duplicated individuals within a mixed population, ensuring the spreading novel phenotype. We conclude that both types of mutations play complementary roles in determining the successful propagation of organisms with duplicated genomes. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.