A New Formulation of Random Genetic Drift and Its Application to the Evolution of Cell Populations

Molecular Biology and Evolution
Yuxin ChenChung-I Wu

Abstract

Random genetic drift, or stochastic change in gene frequency, is a fundamental evolutionary force that is usually defined within the ideal Wright-Fisher (WF) population. However, as the theory is increasingly applied to populations that deviate strongly from the ideal model, a paradox of random drift has emerged. When drift is defined by the WF model, it becomes stronger as the population size, N, decreases. However, the intensity of competition decreases when N decreases and, hence, drift might become weaker. To resolve the paradox, we propose that random drift be defined by the variance of "individual output", V(k) [k being the progeny number of each individual with the mean of E(k)], rather than by the WF sampling. If the distribution of k is known for any population, its strength of drift relative to a WF population of the same size, N, can be calculated. Generally, E(k) and V(k) should be density dependent but their relationships are different with or without competition, leading to opposite predictions on the efficiency of random drift as N changes. We apply the "individual output" model to asexual cell populations that are either unregulated (such as tumors) or negatively density-dependent (e.g., bacteria). In such popul...Continue Reading

References

Mar 28, 2006·Nature Genetics·Carlo C MaleyBrian J Reid
Dec 7, 2007·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Oskar HallatschekDavid R Nelson
May 27, 2008·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Laurent Excoffier, Nicolas Ray
Jul 7, 2011·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Yong TaoChung-I Wu
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Nov 13, 2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Shaoping LingChung-I Wu
Jan 19, 2016·Nature Genetics·Marc J WilliamsAndrea Sottoriva
Oct 1, 2016·Annual Review of Genetics·Chung-I WuXuemei Lu

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Citations

Mar 27, 2019·Molecular Biology and Evolution·Bingjie ChenChung-I Wu
May 7, 2019·Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics·Marc J WilliamsTrevor A Graham
May 1, 2021·FEMS Microbiology Reviews·Ilana Zilber-Rosenberg, Eugene Rosenberg

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