Fig. 3.

Genetic load. Total genetic load $\mathcal{L}$ versus the number of genes g for asexual evolution for the minimal biophysical model at steady-state asexual evolution. Simulation results (circles) for different values of f₀ (indicated by color, as in Fig. 2); model results for independently evolving genes, $\mathcal{L}=ug$ (brown dashed line), and phenotypic interference load, ${\mathcal{L}}_{\mathrm{int}}~u{g}^2∕c$ (red dashed line); see Eq. 9. The superlinear behavior of $\mathcal{L}$ for $g>g_0~10^2$ indicates strong selection against genome complexity. Other simulation parameters as in Fig. 2; see Methods section for simulation details