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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2025.02.14.638275

Predicting the topography of fitness landscapes from the structure of genotype-phenotype maps

Srivastava, M.·Louis, A. A.·Martin, N. S.
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Abstract

Ruggedness, the prevalence of fitness peaks, and navigability, the existence of fitness-increasing paths to a target, are key factors affecting evolution on fitness landscapes. We analytically predict landscape ruggedness for genotype-phenotype maps with randomly assigned fitness, using only the sizes of neutral components - mutationally connected genotype sets sharing the same phenotype- and their evolvabilities, the number of neighbouring phenotypes. Further, more evolvable peaks tend to have higher fitness and a minimal evolvability is required for navigability.

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Srivastava, M., Louis, A. A., Martin, N. S.. 2025-02-16. Predicting the topography of fitness landscapes from the structure of genotype-phenotype maps. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.14.638275

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