Wehave shown examples of deleterious mutants that have ADLs of
only ~3 min whereas the WT has ADL ~17 min (Fig. 8) under typical
dive conditions. This can be achieved by mutating one residue, the
His-64 that changes KO2 by 100-fold. The effect of single mutations
on mammalian fitness is not commonly explored, although fundamental
to the concept of Darwinian molecular evolution, and it is
our hope that the present models and computations may be helpful
in understanding the direct correlation between protein structure, animal
behavior and physiological adaptations in a common framework
of evolution.