Effect of the degree of an initial mutant in Moran processes in structured populations

We study the effect of the mutant’s degree on the fixation probability, extinction and fixation times, in the Moran process on Erdös-Rényi and Barabási-Albert graphs. We performed stochastic simulations and use mean-field type approximations to obtain analytical formulas. We showed that the initial placement of a mutant has a significant impact on the fixation probability and extinction time, while it has no effect on the fixation time. In both types of graphs, an increase in the degree of a initial mutant results in a decreased fixation probability and a shorter time to extinction.