A microscopic model of evolution of recombination

We study the evolution of recombination using a microscopic model developed within the frame of the theory of quantitative traits. Two components of fitness are considered: a static one that describes adaptation to environmental factors not related to the population itself, and a dynamic one that accounts for interactions between organisms e.g. competition. We focus on the dynamics of colonization of an empty niche. As competition is a function of the population, selection pressure rapidly changes in time. The simulations show that recombination provides a high velocity of movement in the phenotypic space thus allowing recombinants to colonize the highest fitness regions earlier than non recombinants that are often driven to extinction. The stabilizing effects of competition are also discussed.