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bioRxiv · 10.1101/646877

AEGIS: An In Silico Tool to Model Genome Evolution in Age-Structured Populations

Bradshaw, W. J.·Sajina, A.·Valenzano, D. R.
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Abstract

AEGIS (Ageing of Evolving Genomes In Silico) is a versatile population-genetics numerical-simulation tool that enables the evolution of life history trajectories under sexual and asexual reproduction and a wide variety of evolutionary constraints. By encoding age-specific survival and reproduction probabilities as discrete genomic elements, AEGIS allows these probabilities to evolve freely and independently over time. Simulation of population evolution with AEGIS demonstrates that ageing-like phenotypes evolve in stable environments under a wide range of conditions, that life history trajectories depend heavily on mutation rates, and that sexual populations are better able to accumulate high levels of beneficial mutations affecting early-life survival and reproduction. AEGIS is free and open-source, and aims to become a standard reference tool in the study of life-history evolution and the evolutionary biology of ageing.

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Bradshaw, W. J., Sajina, A., Valenzano, D. R.. 2019-05-23. AEGIS: An In Silico Tool to Model Genome Evolution in Age-Structured Populations. https://doi.org/10.1101/646877

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