Martin Research Group
We are an interdisciplinary research group building computational and mathematical models of genotype-phenotype maps, fitness landscapes and evolutionary processes.
Biological complexity at all levels—from molecules to whole organisms—is shaped by evolution. Quantitative and predictive models of evolutionary processes can therefore help address a wide range of biological questions.​ To build such models, we need quantitative information about variation: how random mutations, by changing the genotype, alter phenotypes, and affect fitness. This information is contained in two types of evolutionary landscapes: genotype–phenotype (GP) maps and fitness landscapes. These landscapes can be thought of as large datasets that link each possible genotype to a phenotype or to a measure of fitness.​ Data from computational models and experiments allow us to study these landscapes in detail. Our research uses computational and mathematical approaches to identify the key features of such landscapes and understand how they shape evolutionary processes.
Group members past and present
Publications
Preprints
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J. S. Malone, N. S. Martin, S. H. A. von der Dunk, L. M. Dávalos, A. A. Louis*. Developmental bias explains the evolutionary trend towards simple leaf shapes. bioRxiv (preprint, 2025). https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.17.670617
S. H. A. von der Dunk*, N. S. Martin, K. Dingle, A. A. Louis. RNA secondary structures are conserved but random. bioRxiv (preprint, 2025). https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.18.670923
N.S. Martin*. A simple model captures key characteristics of biological non-deterministic genotype-phenotype maps. bioRxiv (preprint, 2025). https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.07.23.666293
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Articles
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M. Srivastava, A.A. Louis, and N.S. Martin*. Predicting the topography of fitness landscapes from the structure of genotype-phenotype maps. accepted manuscript in GENETICS (2026) https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyag026
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N. S. Martin*, S. Schaper, C.Q. Camargo, A. A. Louis*. Non-Poissonian bursts in the arrival of phenotypic variation can strongly affect the dynamics of adaptation. Mol. Biol. Evol. 41(6):msae085 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msae085
N. S. Martin*, C.Q. Camargo, A. A. Louis*. Bias in the arrival of variation can dominate over natural selection in Richard Dawkins' biomorphs. PLOS Comp. Bio. 20(3), p.e1011893. (2024):2023-05. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011893
N.S. Martin*, S.E. Ahnert. The Boltzmann distributions of folded molecular structures predict likely changes through random mutations. Biophysical Journal 122, 4467–4475 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2023.10.024
P. García-Galindo*, S. E. Ahnert, N. S. Martin. The non-deterministic genotype-phenotype map of RNA secondary structure. J. R. Soc. Interface 20: 20230132 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2023.0132
N.S. Martin*, S.E. Ahnert. Thermodynamics and neutral sets in the RNA sequence-structure map. EPL, 139: 37001 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/ac7c34
N.S. Martin*, S.E. Ahnert. Fast free-energy-based neutral set size estimates for the RNA genotype-phenotype map. J. R. Soc. Interface 19: 20220072 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2022.0072
N. S. Martin*, S.E. Ahnert. Insertions and deletions in the RNA sequence–structure map. J. R. Soc. Interface 18: 20210380 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2021.0380
S. Manrubia*, J.A. Cuesta, J. Aguirre, S.E. Ahnert, L. Altenberg, A.V. Cano, P. Catalán, R. Diaz-Uriarte, S.F. Elena, J.A. García-Martín, P. Hogeweg, B.S. Khatri, J. Krug, A.A. Louis, N.S. Martin, J.L Payne, M.J. Tarnowski, M. Weiß (leading and organising authors are Manrubia & Cuesta): From genotypes to organisms: State-of-the-art and perspectives of a cornerstone in evolutionary dynamics, Physics of Life Reviews 38: 55-106 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plrev.2021.03.004
*corresponding author
If you are interested in our research and would like to discuss possibilities of joining the group, please get in touch!