Dewey T G, Delle Donne M
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Denver, CO 80208, USA.
J Theor Biol. 1998 Aug 21;193(4):593-9. doi: 10.1006/jtbi.1998.0724.
The evolution of the information complexity of a large database of protein sequences is investigated. The information entropy for protein sequences is determined from their algorithmic complexity and is found to change with evolutionary time at a constant rate. The information content of changed residues is always lower than the content of conserved residues. This indicates that sequences are becoming less random throughout evolution. It also shows that the system is being driven toward minimal complexity production. The change in information content per amino acid substitution is virtually identical for all the protein sequences studied. These results are interpreted with a statistical mechanical theory that ties sequence information to the thermodynamics of protein structure. Sequence evolution is viewed as a means to drive the system to minimum thermodynamic entropy production in a stable, non-equilibrium state. This theory provides a physical framework for understanding molecular evolution and incorporates features of both the neutralist and selectionist models.
研究了一个大型蛋白质序列数据库信息复杂性的演变。蛋白质序列的信息熵由其算法复杂性确定，并发现其随进化时间以恒定速率变化。发生变化的残基的信息含量总是低于保守残基的含量。这表明序列在整个进化过程中变得越来越不随机。这也表明系统正朝着产生最小复杂性的方向发展。对于所有研究的蛋白质序列，每个氨基酸替代的信息含量变化几乎相同。这些结果用一种统计力学理论来解释，该理论将序列信息与蛋白质结构的热力学联系起来。序列进化被视为一种手段，可驱使系统在稳定的非平衡状态下产生最小的热力学熵。该理论为理解分子进化提供了一个物理框架，并融合了中立主义和选择主义模型的特征。
