The exact solution of the mutator model with directed mutations, linear fitness function, and finite genome length

Abstract

In this study, we considered the model by Beckman and Loeb [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103 (2006) 14140] for the mutator phenomena. We construct an infinite population Crow-Kimura model with a mutator gene, directed mutations, a linear fitness function, and a finite genome length. We solved analytically the dynamics of the model using the generating function method. Such models provide realistic predictions for finite population sizes and have been widely discussed recently. The analytical formulas provided can be used to calculate the advantage of the mutator mechanism for the accumulation of mutations in cancer biology.