AN INTRODUCTION TO EVOLGENIUS 5.6

EvolGenius is a Java based computer program that simulates microevolutionary change within a single population. It is base on an earlier version written in C++ by Rich Kliman.

The program is free. It has been developed primarily for use in as a teaching aid for population genetics courses and particularly for student projects in those courses.

The program follows the evolution of two genes, Alpha (A) and Beta (B). The user sets the following:

• the initial number of individuals with each of the nine genotypes (AABB, AABb, ..., aabb);
• the relative fitness associated with each genotype;
• the mutation rates (A to a, B to b, a to A, and b to B);
• the linkage map distance between the Alpha and Beta genes;
• the relative mating preferences among Alpha genotypes;
• the average number of immigrants/generation, along with the immigrant population genotype frequencies;
• whether self-fertilization is allowed;
• whether monogamy is enforced; and
• the conditions required to end an iteration.

What the program lacks in aesthetics it makes up for in power. The user can run a given simulation a large number of times (i.e., up to 50,000 iterations), and the results of all of the iterations are exported to a single excel file. The output file is easily used for further statistical analysis.

The program reports the following:

• final allele frequencies for the Alpha and Beta genes;
• final haplotype frequencies (AB, Ab, aB and ab);
• final diploid genotype frequencies (distinguishing AB/ab and Ab/aB);
• allele fixation times; and
• gene copy fixation times.

The latter allows the user to assess the effect of changing various parameters on the effective population sizes of the two genes.