STUN: forward-time Simulation on TUnable fitNess landscapes in recombining populations

Understanding the population genetics of complex polygenic traits during adaptation is challenging. Here, we implement a forward-in-time population-genetic simulator (STUN) based on Wright-Fisher dynamics. STUN is a flexible and user-friendly software package for simulating the polygenic adaptation of recombining haploid populations using either new mutations or standing genetic variation. STUN assumes that populations adapt to sudden environmental changes by undergoing selection on a new fitness landscape. With pre-implemented fitness landscape models like Rough Mount Fuji, NK, Block, additive, and House-of-Cards, users can explore the effect of different levels of epistasis (ruggedness of the fitness landscape). Custom fitness landscapes and recombination maps can also be defined. STUN empowers both experimentalists and advanced programmers to study the evolution of complex polygenic traits and to dissect the adaptation process. Availability and implementationSTUN is implemented in Rust. Its source code is available at https://github.com/banklab/STUN, which also includes a link to the softwares manual and binary files for Linux, macOS and Windows. Upon publication, the code will also be archived on Zenodo and a doi will be provided here.