Biological Evolution and Statistical Physics

This set of lecture notes gives a first coherent account of a novel aspect of the living world that can be called biological information. The book presents both a pedagogical and state-of-the art roadmap of this rapidly evolving area and covers the whole field, from information which is encoded in the molecular genetic code to the description of large-scale evolution of complex species networks. The book will prove useful for all those who work at the interface of biology, physics and information science.

Bridges the gap between advanced textbook material and the research literature Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Inhalt
Molecular information and evolution.- Statistical significance and extremal ensemble of gapped local hybrid alignment.- On the design of optimization criteria for multiple sequence alignment.- Red queen dynamics and the evolution of translational redundancy and degeneracy.- A testable genotype-phenotype map: modeling evolution of RNA molecules.- Evolutionary perspectives on protein structure, stability, and functionality.- Phylogeny.- The statistical approach to molecular phylogeny: Evidence for a nonhyperthermophilic common ancestor.- Principles of cophylogenetic maps.- Accounting for phylogenetic uncertainty in comparative studies of evolution and adaptation.- The' shape' of phylogenies under simple random speciation models.- The evolution of populations and species.- Fitness landscapes.- Tempo and mode in quasispecies evolution.- Multilevel processes in evolution and development: Computational models and biological insights.- Evolutionary strategies for solving optimization problems.- Review of biological ageing on the computer.- Spatio-temporal modes of speciation.- Large-scale evolution.- Food web structure and the evolution of ecological communities.- Dynamics and topology of species networks.- Modelling macroevolutionary patterns: An ecological perspective.