Diversity of semelparous populations in a penna model with continuous and periodic mutations

The Penna-bit string approach is used as a framework for the genetic diversity investigations of continuous and periodic mutation implementations. We quantify genetic diversity with time in Penna model populations using Shannon diversity index as a measure. The absence of deaths due to mutation accumulation removes selection and results to all populations reaching the same genome. We find that periodic mutation in this case allows the population to reach homogeneity at a much larger time than continuous mutations.