Genotype-Phenotype Maps and Signatures of Selection in Genomic Sequences

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Peter Florian Stadler
• Subject Area: Mathematics
• Term: from 2012 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 221857062

Natural selection acts on the phenotype while genetic variation is generated at the genotypic level. The connection between these two levels is the genotype-phenotype map (GP-map), which entails both molecular interactions of gene products and the regulatory networks built upon them. Since GP-map is a major determinant of the fitness-effect of genetic variants, its structural features strongly impact both on the observable variation within a population and on the pattern of substitutions separating the genomic sequences of distinct species. The goal of this project is to systematically study this influence of the GP map. To this end, we will devise a suitable mathematical framework, construct and analyze probabilistic models for concrete scenaria, and perform large-scale computer simulations. Since genotypic fitness is understood as the composition of the GP map and a phenotypic fitness function, the GP map generically introduced neutrality into the fitness landscape. The geometric structure of these neutral sets affects substitution patterns under stabilizing selection as well as the accessibility of advantageous innovations. As a practical outcome we aim at the development of statistical procedures to assess selective constraints in the large-scale genome-wide data sets that are becoming widely available.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1590: Probabilistic Structures in Evolution