Related papers: Global divergence of microbial genome sequences me…
Bacteria are known to exchange genetic information by horizontal gene transfer. Since the frequency of homologous recombination depends on the similarity of recombining segments, several studies examined whether this could lead to the…
We study two new models of two particle species invading a surface from opposite sides. Collisions of particles of different species lead to the formation of congestion fronts. One of the models implements a reversible process whereas in…
Competition between random genetic drift and natural selection plays a central role in evolution: Whereas non-beneficial mutations often prevail in small populations by chance, mutations that sweep through large populations typically confer…
Many bacterial species exchange signaling molecules to coordinate population-wide responses. For this process known as quorum sensing the concentration of the respective molecules is crucial. Here we consider the interaction between…
We study the genetic interfaces between two species of an expanding colony that consists of individual microorganisms that reproduce and undergo diffusion, both at the frontier and in the interior. Within the bulk of the colony, the genetic…
The design of protocols to suppress the propagation of viral infections is an enduring enterprise, especially hindered by limited knowledge of the mechanisms through which extinction of infection propagation comes about. We here report on a…
Environmental heterogeneity can drive genetic heterogeneity in expanding populations; mutant strains may emerge that trade overall growth rate for an improved ability to survive in patches that are hostile to the wild type. This…
Genome-wide patterns of genetic divergence reveal mechanisms of adaptation under gene flow. Empirical data show that divergence is mostly concentrated in narrow genomic regions. This pattern may arise because differentiated loci protect…
An approximation to the ~4 Mbp basic genome shared by 32 strains of E. coli representing six evolutionary groups has been derived and analyzed computationally. A multiple-alignment of the 32 complete genome sequences was filtered to remove…
Spatio-temporal extensions of familiar compartment models for disease transmission incorporating diffusive behavior, or interactions between individuals at separate locations, are explored. The models considered have the character of…
Reaction-diffusion equations describe various spatially extended processes that unfold as traveling fronts moving at constant velocity. We introduce and solve analytically a model that, besides such fronts, supports solutions advancing as…
Multipartite viruses replicate through a puzzling evolutionary strategy. Their genome is segmented into two or more parts, and encapsidated in separate particles that appear to propagate independently. Completing the replication cycle,…
Unraveling the evolutionary forces shaping bacterial diversity can today be tackled using a growing amount of genomic data. While the genome of eukaryotes is highly stable, bacterial genomes from cells of the same species highly vary in…
In this research, we consider a mixture of genome fragments of a certain bacteria set. The problem of mixture separation is studied under the assumption that all the genomes present in the mixture are completely sequenced or are close to…
Inversions, also sometimes called reversals, are a major contributor to variation among bacterial genomes, with studies suggesting that those involving small numbers of regions are more likely than larger inversions. Deletions may arise in…
The rate of adoption of new information depends on reinforcement from multiple sources in a way that often cannot be described by simple contagion processes. In such cases, contagion is said to be complex. Complex contagion happens in the…
Meiotic recombination is a fundamental feature of sexually reproducing species. It is often required for proper chromosome segregation and plays important role in adaptation and the maintenance of genetic diversity. The molecular mechanisms…
The phenotype of any organism on earth is, in large part, the consequence of interplay between numerous gene products encoded in the genome, and such interplay between gene products affects the evolutionary fate of the genome itself through…
The biological world, especially its majority microbial component, is strongly interacting and may be dominated by collective effects. In this review, we provide a brief introduction for statistical physicists of the way in which living…
The distributed genome hypothesis states that the set of genes in a population of bacteria is distributed over all individuals that belong to the specific taxon. It implies that certain genes can be gained and lost from generation to…