---
_id: '6467'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Fitness interactions between mutations can influence a population’s evolution
    in many different ways. While epistatic effects are difficult to measure precisely,
    important information is captured by the mean and variance of log fitnesses for
    individuals carrying different numbers of mutations. We derive predictions for
    these quantities from a class of simple fitness landscapes, based on models of
    optimizing selection on quantitative traits. We also explore extensions to the
    models, including modular pleiotropy, variable effect sizes, mutational bias and
    maladaptation of the wild type. We illustrate our approach by reanalysing a large
    dataset of mutant effects in a yeast snoRNA (small nucleolar RNA). Though characterized
    by some large epistatic effects, these data give a good overall fit to the non-epistatic
    null model, suggesting that epistasis might have limited influence on the evolutionary
    dynamics in this system. We also show how the amount of epistasis depends on both
    the underlying fitness landscape and the distribution of mutations, and so is
    expected to vary in consistent ways between new mutations, standing variation
    and fixed mutations.
article_number: '0881'
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Christelle
  full_name: Fraisse, Christelle
  id: 32DF5794-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Fraisse
  orcid: 0000-0001-8441-5075
- first_name: John J.
  full_name: Welch, John J.
  last_name: Welch
citation:
  ama: Fraisse C, Welch JJ. The distribution of epistasis on simple fitness landscapes.
    <i>Biology Letters</i>. 2019;15(4). doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881">10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881</a>
  apa: Fraisse, C., &#38; Welch, J. J. (2019). The distribution of epistasis on simple
    fitness landscapes. <i>Biology Letters</i>. Royal Society of London. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881">https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881</a>
  chicago: Fraisse, Christelle, and John J. Welch. “The Distribution of Epistasis
    on Simple Fitness Landscapes.” <i>Biology Letters</i>. Royal Society of London,
    2019. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881">https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881</a>.
  ieee: C. Fraisse and J. J. Welch, “The distribution of epistasis on simple fitness
    landscapes,” <i>Biology Letters</i>, vol. 15, no. 4. Royal Society of London,
    2019.
  ista: Fraisse C, Welch JJ. 2019. The distribution of epistasis on simple fitness
    landscapes. Biology Letters. 15(4), 0881.
  mla: Fraisse, Christelle, and John J. Welch. “The Distribution of Epistasis on Simple
    Fitness Landscapes.” <i>Biology Letters</i>, vol. 15, no. 4, 0881, Royal Society
    of London, 2019, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881">10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881</a>.
  short: C. Fraisse, J.J. Welch, Biology Letters 15 (2019).
date_created: 2019-05-19T21:59:15Z
date_published: 2019-04-03T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-08-25T10:34:41Z
day: '03'
department:
- _id: BeVi
- _id: NiBa
doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
  isi:
  - '000465405300010'
  pmid:
  - '31014191'
intvolume: '        15'
isi: 1
issue: '4'
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881
month: '04'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
pmid: 1
project:
- _id: 25681D80-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
  call_identifier: FP7
  grant_number: '291734'
  name: International IST Postdoc Fellowship Programme
publication: Biology Letters
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1744957X
  issn:
  - '17449561'
publication_status: published
publisher: Royal Society of London
quality_controlled: '1'
related_material:
  link:
  - relation: supplementary_material
    url: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4461008
  record:
  - id: '9798'
    relation: research_data
    status: public
  - id: '9799'
    relation: research_data
    status: public
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: The distribution of epistasis on simple fitness landscapes
type: journal_article
user_id: 4359f0d1-fa6c-11eb-b949-802e58b17ae8
volume: 15
year: '2019'
...