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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 26: Posters II

BP 26.55: Poster

Thursday, February 28, 2008, 17:00–19:30, Poster A

Dynamics of RNA evolution on realistic fitness landscapes — •Klaus Blindert — University of Cologne, Germany

The folding and function of RNA molecules strongly constrains the evolution of their sequences, by producing complex epistatic interactions between individual sequence positions. For instance, the deleterious effect of a mutation can often be compensated by a different mutation, which either directly or indirectly restores the folded basepairing pattern. To analyye the evolutionary dynamics of such compensatory effects, we use realistic models for RNA folding and fitness functions derived from existing structural alignments. We study the relative importance of direct (that is restoring a Watson-Crick base pair) and indirect compensation (e.g. lowering the free energy of the motif at an unrelated site) using simple RNA structural motifs such as hairpins. Our evolutionary model is based on the well-established Wright-Fisher model. To explore a wide range of parameters in our simulations, we apply a new technique, which approximates the evolutionary dynamics of multiple alleles under mutation, genetic drift and weak selection.