Mathematical modelling of evolution. Volume 1: One-locus and multi-locus theory and recombination (Q780331)

This book forms a self-contained introduction to the mathematical modeling of genetic evolution. It explores the effect of \emph{random genetic drift}, \emph{natural selection} and the occurrence of \emph{random mutation} on a population with a genome consisting of one or several loci. It presents the study of this model under several conditions, which allows to explore the variety of behaviors which can be expected when studying genetic evolution. The book is decomposed into three chapters introducing increasingly complex phenomenon to the model. In the first chapter, a population evolving according to a simple Wright-Fisher model is studied. The evolution over time of the allele frequencies of a single gene is considered. Depending on the relative strength of the forces that are applied to the population, different observations are made, from the fixation probability of a beneficial or detrimental allele, to the steady state of the population. In the second chapter, the joint evolution of several genetic locus in clonal population is studied, which allows the introduction of the notion of \emph{clonal interference}. Again, several type of behaviors can be observed for the populations depending on the parameters of the model, such as an adaptation to its environment, \emph{Muller's ratchet} and steady-state conservation of fitness for the population. Sexual reproduction is introduced in the third chapter with the mechanism of \emph{recombination}. It is observed there that recombination can increase the speed of adaptation for a population with a large genetic heterogeneity, but that inbreeding can represent an important adverse effect on the adaptation. The text is a very well written presentation of the motivations and recent developments in the study of the modeling of genetic evolution. It is mainly written for a reader with a background in population genetics and/or applied mathematics. This provides an introductory guide for any researcher interested in this field, especially those who are looking for a relatively quick introduction.