What is the evolutionary significance of phenotype plasticity?
What is the evolutionary significance of phenotype plasticity?
Many organisms have the ability to express different phenotypes in response to environmental conditions. Such phenotypic plasticity allows individual organisms to develop appropriate morphological, physiological, or behavioral traits that better fit a particular environment that they encounter.
What is the evolutionary advantage of gene duplication?
Gene duplication can significantly speed up evolution by providing new redundant genetic material that has no constraints and can freely evolve new functions [1]. Duplicates can also confer an immediate fitness benefit when an increased gene dosage is advantageous [2,3].
How does phenotypic plasticity influence evolutionary trajectories?
Phenotypic plasticity promotes persistence in a new environment. A change in the environment can release cryptic genetic variation via phenotypic plasticity, in turn impacting the rate of evolutionary responses.
What are three ways to study the evolution of phenotypic plasticity?
The evolution of plasticity is modeled in three ways: optimality models, quantitative genetic models, and gametic models.
What is a duplication and what evolutionary significance might it have?
A duplication occurs when a gene or group of genes is copied to multiple regions of chromosomes. This has evolutionary significance because a gene can be retained in the original site and duplicate sites can undergo mutations that may be selected for by nature.
How does duplication influence the evolution of novel genes?
The most obvious contribution of gene duplication to evolution is providing new genetic material for mutation, drift, and selection to act upon, making new evolutionary opportunities possible (Zhang 2003).
Does phenotypic plasticity change allele frequencies?
The evolution of allele frequencies results from different reproductive efficiencies (fitness between genotypes) and so tends to reduce the genetic diversity within a population. Through phenotypic plasticity, the plastic traits of individuals are modified without modifying the genetic diversity of the population.
What kind of environment is most likely to create selection for phenotypic plasticity?
heterogeneous environments
Since Bradshaw’s discussion, numerous models of the evolution of phenotypic plasticity indicate that plasticity is favored in heterogeneous environments where different phenotypic optima are present across environments experienced either within the lifetime of an organism or across generations (for example, Berrigan …
What is gene duplication and explain?
Duplication Duplication is a type of mutation that involves the production of one or more copies of a gene or region of a chromosome. Gene and chromosome duplications occur in all organisms, though they are especially prominent among plants. Gene duplication is an important mechanism by which evolution occurs.
How can gene duplication lead to the formation of a gene with a different function?
Gene duplication happens when an extra copy of a gene is made in an organism’s genome. In some cases, the duplication leads to the gain of a new function, but in other cases, protein function is lost, as shown in Figure 1. The various types of keratin in the body are the result of duplications of a single gene.
Why is the duplication of these groups of genes important to vertebrate evolution?
Abstract. Gene and genome duplications provide a source of genetic material for mutation, drift, and selection to act upon, making new evolutionary opportunities possible. As a result, many have argued that genome duplication is a dominant factor in the evolution of complexity and diversity.
Does phenotypic plasticity increase fitness?
Some genotypes, not genetically adapted to an environment, become adapted through phenotypic plasticity and thus increase their fitness. Here it is necessary to introduce the notion of an optimal phenotype for a given environment. This is the phenotype which leads to the best fitness within the population.
Are there limits to phenotypic plasticity?
Because no organism is infinitely or ideally plastic, theory suggests that there must be limits (for example, the lack of ability to produce an optimal trait) to the evolution of phenotypic plasticity, or that plasticity may have inherent significant costs. Yet numerous experimental studies have not detected widespread costs.
When is plasticity favored in heterogeneous environments?
Since Bradshaw’s discussion, numerous models of the evolution of phenotypic plasticity indicate that plasticity is favored in heterogeneous environments where different phenotypic optima are present across environments experienced either within the lifetime of an organism or across generations (for example, Berrigan and Scheiner, 2004 ).
What drives adaptive phenotypic plasticity to evolve?
Adaptive phenotypic plasticity is presumed to evolve in response to contrasting selection pressures that arise when organisms confront environmental heterogeneity ( Bradshaw, 1965 ).
What constraints limit the evolution of plasticity?
Together, we consider costs of phenotype, cost of plasticity and limits to plasticity to be constraints on the evolution of plasticity. Classic framework for evaluating cost of plasticity, and contrast with a cost of phenotype.
