Phenotypic robustness can increase phenotypic variability after nongenetic perturbations in gene regulatory circuits

Nongenetic perturbations, such as environmental change or developmental noise, can induce novel phenotypes. If an induced phenotype appears recurrently and confers a fitness advantage, selection may promote its genetic stabilization. Nongenetic perturbations can thus initiate evolutionary innovation...

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Published inJournal of evolutionary biology Vol. 24; no. 6; pp. 1284 - 1297
Main Authors ESPINOSA‐SOTO, C., MARTIN, O. C., WAGNER, A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.2011
Wiley
Subjects
Biological Evolution
Circuits
Computer Simulation
Environment
Evolutionary biology
evo‐devo
Gene expression
Gene Expression Regulation
Genotype
Genotype & phenotype
Life Sciences
Models, Biological
Mutation
Phenotype
phenotypic plasticity
Population Dynamics
Population genetics
Selection, Genetic
simulation
theory
Vegetal Biology
evo-devo
MORPHOLOGICAL EVOLUTION
DROSOPHILA-MELANOGASTER
MUTATIONAL ROBUSTNESS
simulation
phenotypic plasticity
ASSIMILATION
DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION
CANALIZATION
EVOLUTIONARY SIGNIFICANCE
EXPRESSION
theory
ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION
PLASTICITY
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Summary:Nongenetic perturbations, such as environmental change or developmental noise, can induce novel phenotypes. If an induced phenotype appears recurrently and confers a fitness advantage, selection may promote its genetic stabilization. Nongenetic perturbations can thus initiate evolutionary innovation. Genetic variation that is not usually phenotypically visible may play an important role in this process. Populations under stabilizing selection on a phenotype that is robust to mutations can accumulate such variation. After nongenetic perturbations, this variation can produce new phenotypes. We here study the relationship between a phenotype's mutational robustness and a population's potential to generate novel phenotypic variation. To this end, we use a well‐studied model of transcriptional regulation circuits that are important in many evolutionary innovations. We find that phenotypic robustness promotes phenotypic variability in response to nongenetic perturbations, but not in response to mutation. Our work suggests that nongenetic perturbations may initiate innovation more frequently in mutationally robust gene expression traits.
Bibliography:Present address: Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Irapuato, Guanajuato, México.
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ISSN:1010-061X
1420-9101
DOI:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02261.x