Selection strategies for randomly distributed replicators

The amplification cycle of many replicators (natural or artificial) involves the usage of a host compartment, inside which the replicator express phenotypic compounds necessary to carry out its genetic replication. The compartment limits the diffusion of the intermediate compounds, thereby also maintaining the genotypephenotype linkage enabling natural selection. In most cases however, genotypic variants are distributed randomly among the hosts. More than one variant may thus occupy each compartment, blurring the genotypephenotype linkage: how does this affect the effectiveness of natural selection? We derive selection equations for a variety of such random multiple occupancy situations, in particular considering the effect of replicator population polymorphism and internal replication dynamics. We conclude that the deleterious effect of random multiple occupancy is relatively benign, and may even completely vanish is some specific cases. In addition, given that higher mean occupancy allows larger populations to be channeled through the selection process, and thus provide a better exploration of phenotypic diversity, we show that it may represent a valid strategy in both natural and technological cases.