151
|
Abstract
Cells can rapidly adapt to changing environments through nongenetic processes; however, the metabolic cost of such adaptation has never been considered. Here we demonstrate metabolic coupling in a remarkable, rapid adaptation process (1 in 1,000 cells adapt per hour) by simultaneously measuring metabolism and division of thousands of individual Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells using a droplet microfluidic system: droplets containing single cells are immobilized in a two-dimensional (2D) array, with osmotically induced changes in droplet volume being used to measure cell metabolism, while simultaneously imaging the cells to measure division. Following a severe challenge, most cells, while not dividing, continue to metabolize, displaying a remarkably wide diversity of metabolic trajectories from which adaptation events can be anticipated. Adaptation requires a characteristic amount of energy, indicating that it is an active process. The demonstration that metabolic trajectories predict a priori adaptation events provides evidence of tight energetic coupling between metabolism and regulatory reorganization in adaptation. This process allows S. cerevisiae to adapt on a physiological timescale, but related phenomena may also be important in other processes, such as cellular differentiation, cellular reprogramming, and the emergence of drug resistance in cancer.
Collapse
|
152
|
Sommer RJ. Phenotypic Plasticity: From Theory and Genetics to Current and Future Challenges. Genetics 2020; 215:1-13. [PMID: 32371438 PMCID: PMC7198268 DOI: 10.1534/genetics.120.303163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 93] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2019] [Accepted: 03/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Phenotypic plasticity is defined as the property of organisms to produce distinct phenotypes in response to environmental variation. While for more than a century, biologists have proposed this organismal feature to play an important role in evolution and the origin of novelty, the idea has remained contentious. Plasticity is found in all domains of life, but only recently has there been an increase in empirical studies. This contribution is intended as a fresh view and will discuss current and future challenges of plasticity research, and the need to identify associated molecular mechanisms. After a brief summary of conceptual, theoretical, and historical aspects, some of which were responsible for confusion and contention, I will formulate three major research directions and predictions for the role of plasticity as a facilitator of novelty. These predictions result in a four-step model that, when properly filled with molecular mechanisms, will reveal plasticity as a major factor of evolution. Such mechanistic insight must be complemented with comparative investigations to show that plasticity has indeed created novelty and innovation. Together, such studies will help develop a true developmental evolutionary biology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ralf J Sommer
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
153
|
Patvardhan S, Ramachandran J. Shaping the Future: Strategy Making as Artificial Evolution. ORGANIZATION SCIENCE 2020. [DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2019.1321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
To investigate how firms engage in forward-looking action, we examined the processes by which a pioneering firm actively influenced the future of its industry over five decades. From our longitudinal field study, we generated a process model of strategy making that helps to explain how firms work to shape the future in some preferred fashion. Specifically, we describe our findings on shaping-oriented forward-looking strategy making in terms of “artificial evolution” processes—interventions by which a firm’s leaders challenge the status quo and leverage the internal ecology of the organization to nudge the evolution of the business landscape toward a preferred direction. This is distinct from the more conventional and commonly invoked natural selection processes that describe how firms adapt to markets or unintentionally shape them. These findings on strategy making as akin to artificial evolution complement and extend the traditional view of strategic management, which has historically focused on processes anchored in models of search and adaptation. Our findings also shed light on an exceptional mode of strategy making—one that goes beyond concerns of firm survival and competitive advantage, and tackles societal grand challenges. By accounting for constructivist, forward-looking dimensions of strategic agency, our findings also contribute to the microfoundations of strategic decision making and to organization theories, more generally.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shubha Patvardhan
- Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716
| | - J. Ramachandran
- Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, 560076 Bengaluru, India
| |
Collapse
|
154
|
Ho WC, Li D, Zhu Q, Zhang J. Phenotypic plasticity as a long-term memory easing readaptations to ancestral environments. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:eaba3388. [PMID: 32494748 PMCID: PMC7244318 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba3388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2019] [Accepted: 03/12/2020] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Phenotypic plasticity refers to environment-induced phenotypic changes without mutation and is present in all organisms. The role of phenotypic plasticity in organismal adaptations to novel environments has attracted much attention, but its role in readaptations to ancestral environments is understudied. To address this question, we use the reciprocal transplant approach to investigate the multitissue transcriptomes of chickens adapted to the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent lowland. While many genetic transcriptomic changes had occurred in the forward adaptation to the highland, plastic changes largely transform the transcriptomes to the preferred state when Tibetan chickens are brought back to the lowland. The same trend holds for egg hatchability, a key component of the chicken fitness. These findings, along with highly similar patterns in comparable experiments of guppies and Escherichia coli, demonstrate that organisms generally "remember" their ancestral environments via phenotypic plasticity and reveal a mechanism by which past experience affects future evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wei-Chin Ho
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Diyan Li
- Institute of Animal Genetics and Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
| | - Qing Zhu
- Institute of Animal Genetics and Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
| | - Jianzhi Zhang
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| |
Collapse
|
155
|
Brun-Usan M, Thies C, Watson RA. How to fit in: The learning principles of cell differentiation. PLoS Comput Biol 2020; 16:e1006811. [PMID: 32282832 PMCID: PMC7179933 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2019] [Revised: 04/23/2020] [Accepted: 02/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Cell differentiation in multicellular organisms requires cells to respond to complex combinations of extracellular cues, such as morphogen concentrations. Some models of phenotypic plasticity conceptualise the response as a relatively simple function of a single environmental cues (e.g. a linear function of one cue), which facilitates rigorous analysis. Conversely, more mechanistic models such those implementing GRNs allows for a more general class of response functions but makes analysis more difficult. Therefore, a general theory describing how cells integrate multi-dimensional signals is lacking. In this work, we propose a theoretical framework for understanding the relationships between environmental cues (inputs) and phenotypic responses (outputs) underlying cell plasticity. We describe the relationship between environment and cell phenotype using logical functions, making the evolution of cell plasticity equivalent to a simple categorisation learning task. This abstraction allows us to apply principles derived from learning theory to understand the evolution of multi-dimensional plasticity. Our results show that natural selection is capable of discovering adaptive forms of cell plasticity associated with complex logical functions. However, developmental dynamics cause simpler functions to evolve more readily than complex ones. By using conceptual tools derived from learning theory we show that this developmental bias can be interpreted as a learning bias in the acquisition of plasticity functions. Because of that bias, the evolution of plasticity enables cells, under some circumstances, to display appropriate plastic responses to environmental conditions that they have not experienced in their evolutionary past. This is possible when the selective environment mirrors the bias of the developmental dynamics favouring the acquisition of simple plasticity functions–an example of the necessary conditions for generalisation in learning systems. These results illustrate the functional parallelisms between learning in neural networks and the action of natural selection on environmentally sensitive gene regulatory networks. This offers a theoretical framework for the evolution of plastic responses that integrate information from multiple cues, a phenomenon that underpins the evolution of multicellularity and developmental robustness. In organisms composed of many cell types, the differentiation of cells relies on their ability to respond to complex extracellular cues, such as morphogen concentrations, a phenomenon known as cell plasticity. Although cell plasticity plays a crucial role in development and evolution, it is not clear how, and if, cell plasticity can enhance adaptation to a novel environment and/or facilitate robust developmental processes. In some models, the relationships between the environmental cues (inputs) and the phenotypic responses (outputs) are conceptualised as one-to-one (i.e. simple ‘reaction norms’); whereas the phenotype of plastic cells commonly depends on several simultaneous inputs (i.e. many-to-one, multi-dimensional reaction norms). One alternative is the use of a gene-regulatory network (GRN) models that allow for much more general responses; but this can make analysis difficult. In this work we use a theoretical framework based on logical functions and learning theory to characterize such multi-dimensional reaction norms produced by GRNs. This allows us to reveal a strong and previously unnoticed bias towards the acquisition of simple forms of cell plasticity, which increases their ability to adapt to novel environments. Recognising this bias helps us to understand when the evolution of cell plasticity will increase the ability of plastic cells to adapt to novel environments, to respond appropriately to complex extracellular cues and to enhance developmental robustness. Since this set of properties are required for the evolution of multicellularity, our approach can also contribute to our understanding of this evolutionary transition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Brun-Usan
- Institute for Life Sciences/Electronics and Computer Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, (United Kingdom)
| | - Christoph Thies
- Institute for Life Sciences/Electronics and Computer Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, (United Kingdom)
| | - Richard A. Watson
- Institute for Life Sciences/Electronics and Computer Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, (United Kingdom)
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
156
|
Mechanisms of a near-orthogonal ultra-fast evolution of human behaviour as a source of culture development. Behav Brain Res 2020; 384:112521. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2019] [Revised: 01/24/2020] [Accepted: 01/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
|
157
|
Buskell A. Synthesising arguments and the extended evolutionary synthesis. STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF BIOLOGICAL AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES 2020; 80:101244. [PMID: 31917083 DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsc.2019.101244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2018] [Revised: 12/18/2019] [Accepted: 12/27/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Synthesising arguments motivate changes to the conceptual tools, theoretical structure, and evaluatory framework employed in a given scientific domain. Recently, a broad coalition of researchers has put forward a synthesising argument in favour of an Extended Evolutionary Synthesis ('EES'). Often this synthesising argument is evaluated using a virtue-based approach, which construes the EES as a wholesale alternative to prevailing practice. Here I argue this virtue-based approach is not fit for purpose. Taking the central concept of niche construction as a case study, I show that an agenda-based approach better captures the pragmatic and epistemological goals of the EES synthesising argument and diagnoses areas of empirical disagreement with prevailing practice.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Buskell
- Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Free School Lane, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3RH, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
158
|
Silicon and Plant-Animal Interactions: Towards an Evolutionary Framework. PLANTS 2020; 9:plants9040430. [PMID: 32244583 PMCID: PMC7238073 DOI: 10.3390/plants9040430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2020] [Revised: 03/19/2020] [Accepted: 03/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Herbivory is fundamental in ecology, being a major driver of ecosystem structure and functioning. Plant Si and phytoliths play a significant antiherbivory role, the understanding of which and of its evolutionary context will increase our understanding of this phenomenon, its origins, and its significance for past, extant, and future ecosystems. To achieve this goal, we need a superdisciplinary evolutionary framework connecting the role of Si in plant–herbivore interactions, in global processes, and in plant and herbivore evolution. To do this properly, we should acknowledge and incorporate into our work some basic facts that are too often overlooked. First, there is great taxonomic variance both in plant Si contents, forms, and roles, but also in herbivore responses, dietary preferences, and in fossil evidence. Second, species and their traits, as well as whole ecosystems, should be seen in the context of their entire evolutionary history and may therefore reflect not only adaptations to extant selective factors but also anachronistic traits. Third, evolutionary history and evolutionary transitions are complex, resulting in true and apparent asynchronisms. Fourth, evolution and ecology are multiscalar, in which various phenomena and processes act at various scales. Taking these issues into consideration will improve our ability to develop this needed theoretical framework and will bring us closer to gaining a more complete understanding of one of the most exciting and elusive phenomena in plant biology and ecology.
Collapse
|
159
|
Affiliation(s)
- Erik I Svensson
- Evolutionary Ecology Unit, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
160
|
Lema SC. Hormones, developmental plasticity, and adaptive evolution: Endocrine flexibility as a catalyst for 'plasticity-first' phenotypic divergence. Mol Cell Endocrinol 2020; 502:110678. [PMID: 31830511 DOI: 10.1016/j.mce.2019.110678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2019] [Revised: 12/05/2019] [Accepted: 12/05/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Explaining how populations adapt to environments is among the foremost objectives of evolutionary theory. Over generations, natural selection impels the phenotypic distribution of a population based on individual variation in phenotype and fitness. However, environmental conditions can also shape how individuals develop within their lifetime to influence which phenotypes are expressed in a population. It has been proposed that such environmentally-initiated phenotypic variation - also termed developmental plasticity - may enable adaptive evolution under some scenarios. As dynamic regulators of development and phenotypic expression, hormones are important physiological mediators of developmental plasticity. Patterns of hormone secretion, hormone transport, and the sensitivity of tissues to hormones can each be altered by environmental conditions, and understanding how endocrine regulation shapes phenotypic development in an ecologically-relevant context has much to contribute toward clarifying the role of plasticity in evolutionary adaptation. This article explores how the environmental sensitivity of endocrine regulation may facilitate 'plasticity-first' evolution by generating phenotypic variants that precede adaptation to altered or novel environments. Predictions arising from 'plasticity-first' evolution are examined in the context of thyroid hormone mediation of morphological plasticity in Cyprinodon pupfishes from the Death Valley region of California and Nevada, USA. This clade of extremophile fishes diversified morphologically over the last ~20,000 years, and observations that some populations experienced contemporary phenotypic differentiation under recent habitat change provide evidence that hormone-mediate plasticity preceded genetic assimilation of morphology in one of the region's species: the Devils Hole pupfish, Cyprinodon diabolis. This example illustrates how conceptualizing hormones not only as regulators of homeostasis, but also as developmental intermediaries between environment conditions and phenotypic variation at the individual-, population-, and species-levels can enrich our understanding of endocrine regulation both as a facilitator of phenotypic change under shifting environments, and as important proximate mechanisms that may initiate 'plasticity-first' evolutionary adaptation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sean C Lema
- Biological Sciences Department, Center for Coastal Marine Sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93407, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
161
|
Maltseva AL, Varfolomeeva MA, Lobov AA, Tikanova P, Panova M, Mikhailova NA, Granovitch AI. Proteomic similarity of the Littorinid snails in the evolutionary context. PeerJ 2020; 8:e8546. [PMID: 32095363 PMCID: PMC7024583 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2019] [Accepted: 01/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The introduction of DNA-based molecular markers made a revolution in biological systematics. However, in cases of very recent divergence events, the neutral divergence may be too slow, and the analysis of adaptive part of the genome is more informative to reconstruct the recent evolutionary history of young species. The advantage of proteomics is its ability to reflect the biochemical machinery of life. It may help both to identify rapidly evolving genes and to interpret their functions. METHODS Here we applied a comparative gel-based proteomic analysis to several species from the gastropod family Littorinidae. Proteomes were clustered to assess differences related to species, geographic location, sex and body part, using data on presence/absence of proteins in samples and data on protein occurrence frequency in samples of different species. Cluster support was assessed using multiscale bootstrap resampling and the stability of clustering-using cluster-wise index of cluster stability. Taxon-specific protein markers were derived using IndVal method. Proteomic trees were compared to consensus phylogenetic tree (based on neutral genetic markers) using estimates of the Robinson-Foulds distance, the Fowlkes-Mallows index and cophenetic correlation. RESULTS Overall, the DNA-based phylogenetic tree and the proteomic similarity tree had consistent topologies. Further, we observed some interesting deviations of the proteomic littorinid tree from the neutral expectations. (1) There were signs of molecular parallelism in two Littoraria species that phylogenetically are quite distant, but live in similar habitats. (2) Proteome divergence was unexpectedly high between very closely related Littorina fabalis and L. obtusata, possibly reflecting their ecology-driven divergence. (3) Conservative house-keeping proteins were usually identified as markers for cryptic species groups ("saxatilis" and "obtusata" groups in the Littorina genus) and for genera (Littoraria and Echinolittorina species pairs), while metabolic enzymes and stress-related proteins (both potentially adaptively important) were often identified as markers supporting species branches. (4) In all five Littorina species British populations were separated from the European mainland populations, possibly reflecting their recent phylogeographic history. Altogether our study shows that proteomic data, when interpreted in the context of DNA-based phylogeny, can bring additional information on the evolutionary history of species.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Arina L. Maltseva
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Marina A. Varfolomeeva
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Arseniy A. Lobov
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Laboratory of Regenerative Biomedicine, Institute of Cytology Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Polina Tikanova
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Marina Panova
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Department of Marine Sciences, Tjärnö, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Natalia A. Mikhailova
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Centre of Cell Technologies, Institute of Cytology Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Andrei I. Granovitch
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| |
Collapse
|
162
|
Olson ME. Plant Evolutionary Ecology in the Age of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. Integr Comp Biol 2020; 59:493-502. [PMID: 31106813 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icz042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Plant ecology is increasingly turning to evolutionary questions, just as evolutionary biology pushes out of the strictures of the Modern Synthesis into what some regard as an "Extended Evolutionary Synthesis." As plant ecology becomes increasingly evolutionary, it is essential to ask how aspects of the Extended Synthesis might impinge on plant ecological theory and practice. I examine the contribution of plant evolutionary ecology to niche construction theory, as well as the potential for developmental systems theory and genes-as-followers adaptive evolution, all important post-Modern Synthesis themes, in providing novel perspectives for plant evolutionary ecology. I also examine ways that overcoming dichotomies such as "genetic vs. plastic" and "constraint vs. adaptation" provide fertile opportunities for plant evolutionary ecologists. Along the same lines, outgrowing vague concepts such as "stress" and replacing them with more precise terminology in all cases provides vastly increased causal clarity. As a result, the synthetic path that plant ecologists are blazing, becoming more evolutionary every year, bodes extremely well for the field, with vast potential for expansion into important scientific territory.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mark E Olson
- Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Tercer Circuito de CU s/n, Ciudad de México 04510, Mexico
| |
Collapse
|
163
|
Beatty J. The Creativity of Natural Selection? Part II: The Synthesis and Since. JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF BIOLOGY 2019; 52:705-731. [PMID: 31571023 DOI: 10.1007/s10739-019-09583-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
This is the second of a two-part essay on the history of debates concerning the creativity of natural selection, from Darwin through the evolutionary synthesis and up to the present. In the first part, I focussed on the mid-late nineteenth century to the early twentieth, with special emphasis on early Darwinism and its critics, the self-styled "mutationists." The second part focuses on the evolutionary synthesis and some of its critics, especially the "neutralists" and "neo-mutationists." Like Stephen Gould, I consider the creativity of natural selection to be a key component of what has traditionally counted as "Darwinism." I argue that the creativity of natural selection is best understood in terms of (1) selection initiating evolutionary change, and (2) selection directing evolutionary change, for example by creating the variation that it subsequently acts upon. I consider the respects in which both of these claims sound non-Darwinian, even though they have long been understood by supporters and critics alike to be virtually constitutive of Darwinism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John Beatty
- Department of Philosophy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
164
|
Badcock PB, Friston KJ, Ramstead MJD, Ploeger A, Hohwy J. The hierarchically mechanistic mind: an evolutionary systems theory of the human brain, cognition, and behavior. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2019; 19:1319-1351. [PMID: 31115833 PMCID: PMC6861365 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-019-00721-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The purpose of this review was to integrate leading paradigms in psychology and neuroscience with a theory of the embodied, situated human brain, called the Hierarchically Mechanistic Mind (HMM). The HMM describes the brain as a complex adaptive system that functions to minimize the entropy of our sensory and physical states via action-perception cycles generated by hierarchical neural dynamics. First, we review the extant literature on the hierarchical structure of the brain. Next, we derive the HMM from a broader evolutionary systems theory that explains neural structure and function in terms of dynamic interactions across four nested levels of biological causation (i.e., adaptation, phylogeny, ontogeny, and mechanism). We then describe how the HMM aligns with a global brain theory in neuroscience called the free-energy principle, leveraging this theory to mathematically formulate neural dynamics across hierarchical spatiotemporal scales. We conclude by exploring the implications of the HMM for psychological inquiry.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paul B Badcock
- Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
- Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia.
| | - Karl J Friston
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
| | - Maxwell J D Ramstead
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
- Department of Philosophy, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Annemie Ploeger
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jakob Hohwy
- Cognition & Philosophy Lab, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
165
|
Love AC. Evolution evolving? Reflections on big questions. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY. PART B, MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2019; 332:315-320. [PMID: 31613422 DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2019] [Revised: 09/02/2019] [Accepted: 09/07/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
John Bonner managed a long and productive career that balanced specialized inquiry into cellular slime molds with general investigations of big questions in evolutionary biology, such as the origins of multicellular development and the evolution of complexity. This commentary engages with his final paper ("The evolution of evolution"), which argues that the evolutionary process has changed through the history of life. In particular, Bonner emphasizes the possibility that natural selection plays different roles at different size scales. I identify some underlying assumptions in his argument and evaluate its cogency to both foster future discussion and emulate the intellectual example set by Bonner over a lifetime. This endeavor is important beyond Bonner's own theoretical disposition because similar issues are visible in controversies about the possibility of an extended evolutionary synthesis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alan C Love
- Department of Philosophy & Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science, Minneapolis, Minnesota
| |
Collapse
|
166
|
Masier S, Bonte D. Spatial connectedness imposes local‐ and metapopulation‐level selection on life history through feedbacks on demography. Ecol Lett 2019; 23:242-253. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.13421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2019] [Accepted: 10/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Masier
- Department of Biology Terrestrial Ecology Unit Ghent University K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35 9000 Ghent Belgium
| | - Dries Bonte
- Department of Biology Terrestrial Ecology Unit Ghent University K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35 9000 Ghent Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
167
|
Pleyer M, Hartmann S. Constructing a Consensus on Language Evolution? Convergences and Differences Between Biolinguistic and Usage-Based Approaches. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2537. [PMID: 31803099 PMCID: PMC6868443 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2019] [Accepted: 10/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Two of the main theoretical approaches to the evolution of language are biolinguistics and usage-based approaches. Both are often conceptualized as belonging to seemingly irreconcilable "camps." Biolinguistic approaches assume that the ability to acquire language is based on a language-specific genetic foundation. Usage-based approaches, on the other hand, stress the importance of domain-general cognitive capacities, social cognition, and interaction. However, there have been a number of recent developments in both paradigms which suggest that biolinguistic and usage-based approaches are actually moving closer together. For example, theoretical advancements such as evo-devo and complex adaptive system theory have gained traction in the language sciences, leading to changed conceptions of issues like the relative influence of "nature" and "nurture." In this paper, we outline points of convergence between current minimalist biolinguistic and usage-based approaches regarding four contentious issues: (1) modularity and domain specificity; (2) innateness and development; (3) cultural and biological evolution; and (4) knowledge of language and its description. We show that across both paradigms, researchers have come to increasingly embrace more complex views of these issues. They also have come to appreciate the view that biological and cultural evolution are closely intertwined, which lead to an increased amount of common ground between minimalist biolinguistics and usage-based approaches.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael Pleyer
- English Department, University of Koblenz-Landau, Koblenz, Germany
| | - Stefan Hartmann
- German Department, Chair of German Linguistics, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
168
|
Fulton EA, Blanchard JL, Melbourne-Thomas J, Plagányi ÉE, Tulloch VJD. Where the Ecological Gaps Remain, a Modelers' Perspective. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
|
169
|
Majolo B. Warfare in an evolutionary perspective. Evol Anthropol 2019; 28:321-331. [PMID: 31691443 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2018] [Revised: 05/07/2019] [Accepted: 09/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
The importance of warfare for human evolution is hotly debated in anthropology. Some authors hypothesize that warfare emerged at least 200,000-100,000 years BP, was frequent, and significantly shaped human social evolution. Other authors claim that warfare is a recent phenomenon, linked to the emergence of agriculture, and mostly explained by cultural rather than evolutionary forces. Here I highlight and critically evaluate six controversial points on the evolutionary bases of warfare. I argue that cultural and evolutionary explanations on the emergence of warfare are not alternative but analyze biological diversity at two distinct levels. An evolved propensity to act aggressively toward outgroup individuals may emerge irrespective of whether warfare appeared early/late during human evolution. Finally, I argue that lethal violence and aggression toward outgroup individuals are two linked but distinct phenomena, and that war and peace are complementary and should not always be treated as two mutually exclusive behavioral responses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bonaventura Majolo
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Sarah Swift Building, Lincoln, UK
| |
Collapse
|
170
|
The Skull Integration Pattern and Internal Constraints in Myotis myotis–Myotis blythii Species Group (Vespertilionidae, Chiroptera) Might be Shaped by Natural Selection During Evolution Along the Genetic Line of Least Resistance. Evol Biol 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s11692-019-09488-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
|
171
|
Johnson AA, Shokhirev MN, Shoshitaishvili B. Revamping the evolutionary theories of aging. Ageing Res Rev 2019; 55:100947. [PMID: 31449890 DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2019.100947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2019] [Revised: 07/20/2019] [Accepted: 08/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Radical lifespan disparities exist in the animal kingdom. While the ocean quahog can survive for half a millennium, the mayfly survives for less than 48 h. The evolutionary theories of aging seek to explain why such stark longevity differences exist and why a deleterious process like aging evolved. The classical mutation accumulation, antagonistic pleiotropy, and disposable soma theories predict that increased extrinsic mortality should select for the evolution of shorter lifespans and vice versa. Most experimental and comparative field studies conform to this prediction. Indeed, animals with extreme longevity (e.g., Greenland shark, bowhead whale, giant tortoise, vestimentiferan tubeworms) typically experience minimal predation. However, data from guppies, nematodes, and computational models show that increased extrinsic mortality can sometimes lead to longer evolved lifespans. The existence of theoretically immortal animals that experience extrinsic mortality - like planarian flatworms, panther worms, and hydra - further challenges classical assumptions. Octopuses pose another puzzle by exhibiting short lifespans and an uncanny intelligence, the latter of which is often associated with longevity and reduced extrinsic mortality. The evolutionary response to extrinsic mortality is likely dependent on multiple interacting factors in the organism, population, and ecology, including food availability, population density, reproductive cost, age-mortality interactions, and the mortality source.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Maxim N Shokhirev
- Razavi Newman Integrative Genomics and Bioinformatics Core, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Boris Shoshitaishvili
- Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
172
|
Predation risk induces age- and sex-specific morphological plastic responses in the fathead minnow Pimephales promelas. Sci Rep 2019; 9:15378. [PMID: 31653876 PMCID: PMC6814781 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-51591-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2019] [Accepted: 10/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Although comprehending the significance of phenotypic plasticity for evolution is of major interest in biology, the pre-requirement for that, the understanding of variance in plasticity, is still in its infancy. Most researchers assess plastic traits at single developmental stages and pool results between sexes. Here, we study variation among sexes and developmental stages in inducible morphological defences, a well-known instance of plasticity. We raised fathead minnows, Pimephales promelas, under different levels of background predation risk (conspecific alarm cues or distilled water) in a split-clutch design and studied morphology in both juveniles and adults. In accordance with the theory that plasticity varies across ontogeny and sexes, geometric morphometry analyses revealed significant shape differences between treatments that varied across developmental stages and sexes. Alarm cue-exposed juveniles and adult males developed deeper heads, deeper bodies, longer dorsal fin bases, shorter caudal peduncles and shorter caudal fins. Adult alarm cue-exposed males additionally developed a larger relative eye size. These responses represent putative adaptive plasticity as they are linked to reduced predation risk. Perhaps most surprisingly, we found no evidence for inducible morphological defences in females. Understanding whether similar variation occurs in other taxa and their environments is crucial for modelling evolution.
Collapse
|
173
|
Human Self-Domestication and the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis of Addiction: How Humans Evolved a Unique Vulnerability. Neuroscience 2019; 419:100-107. [PMID: 31654715 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2019.09.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2019] [Revised: 09/10/2019] [Accepted: 09/11/2019] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Humans are more vulnerable to addiction in comparison to all other mammals, including nonhuman primates, yet there is a lack of research addressing this. This paper reviews the field of comparative addiction neuroscience, highlighting the significant inter-species variation in the mesocortical dopaminergic and other neuromodulatory systems involved in addiction. Artificial selection gives rise to significant changes in neuroanatomy, neurophysiology and behaviour as shown in certain rodent strains and other domesticated animals. These changes occur over a few generations, relatively short periods of time in evolutionary terms, and demonstrate how dynamic these neuromodulatory systems are in response to the environment. During the course of human evolution, traits crucial to our survival, expansion and domination (traits such as the ability to innovate, adapt to different environments and thrive in a civilization) have been positively selected for, yet also predispose humans to addiction. This is evident in our unique neurochemistry and receptor-drug activation potencies. Examples of these are provided as possible targets for precision medicine.
Collapse
|
174
|
Roldan ERS. Sperm competition and the evolution of sperm form and function in mammals. Reprod Domest Anim 2019; 54 Suppl 4:14-21. [DOI: 10.1111/rda.13552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2019] [Revised: 08/15/2019] [Accepted: 08/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo R. S. Roldan
- Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology; Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC); Madrid Spain
| |
Collapse
|
175
|
The Role of Mutation Bias in Adaptive Evolution. Trends Ecol Evol 2019; 34:422-434. [PMID: 31003616 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2019.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2018] [Revised: 01/27/2019] [Accepted: 01/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Mutational input is the ultimate source of genetic variation, but mutations are not thought to affect the direction of adaptive evolution. Recently, critics of standard evolutionary theory have questioned the random and non-directional nature of mutations, claiming that the mutational process can be adaptive in its own right. We discuss here mutation bias in adaptive evolution. We find little support for mutation bias as an independent force in adaptive evolution, although it can interact with selection under conditions of small population size and when standing genetic variation is limited, entirely consistent with standard evolutionary theory. We further emphasize that natural selection can shape the phenotypic effects of mutations, giving the false impression that directed mutations are driving adaptive evolution.
Collapse
|
176
|
Bonini‐Campos B, Lofeu L, Brandt R, Kohlsdorf T. Different developmental environments reveal multitrait plastic responses in South American Anostomidae fish. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2019; 332:238-244. [DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2019] [Revised: 07/17/2019] [Accepted: 07/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bianca Bonini‐Campos
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão PretoUniversidade de São Paulo São Paulo Brazil
| | - Leandro Lofeu
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão PretoUniversidade de São Paulo São Paulo Brazil
| | - Renata Brandt
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão PretoUniversidade de São Paulo São Paulo Brazil
- Science Communication Program, School of the EnvironmentLaurentian University Ontario Canada
| | - Tiana Kohlsdorf
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão PretoUniversidade de São Paulo São Paulo Brazil
| |
Collapse
|
177
|
Skúlason S, Parsons KJ, Svanbäck R, Räsänen K, Ferguson MM, Adams CE, Amundsen P, Bartels P, Bean CW, Boughman JW, Englund G, Guðbrandsson J, Hooker OE, Hudson AG, Kahilainen KK, Knudsen R, Kristjánsson BK, Leblanc CA, Jónsson Z, Öhlund G, Smith C, Snorrason SS. A way forward with eco evo devo: an extended theory of resource polymorphism with postglacial fishes as model systems. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2019; 94:1786-1808. [PMID: 31215138 PMCID: PMC6852119 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2018] [Revised: 05/12/2019] [Accepted: 05/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
A major goal of evolutionary science is to understand how biological diversity is generated and altered. Despite considerable advances, we still have limited insight into how phenotypic variation arises and is sorted by natural selection. Here we argue that an integrated view, which merges ecology, evolution and developmental biology (eco evo devo) on an equal footing, is needed to understand the multifaceted role of the environment in simultaneously determining the development of the phenotype and the nature of the selective environment, and how organisms in turn affect the environment through eco evo and eco devo feedbacks. To illustrate the usefulness of an integrated eco evo devo perspective, we connect it with the theory of resource polymorphism (i.e. the phenotypic and genetic diversification that occurs in response to variation in available resources). In so doing, we highlight fishes from recently glaciated freshwater systems as exceptionally well-suited model systems for testing predictions of an eco evo devo framework in studies of diversification. Studies on these fishes show that intraspecific diversity can evolve rapidly, and that this process is jointly facilitated by (i) the availability of diverse environments promoting divergent natural selection; (ii) dynamic developmental processes sensitive to environmental and genetic signals; and (iii) eco evo and eco devo feedbacks influencing the selective and developmental environments of the phenotype. We highlight empirical examples and present a conceptual model for the generation of resource polymorphism - emphasizing eco evo devo, and identify current gaps in knowledge.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Skúli Skúlason
- Department of Aquaculture and Fish BiologyHólar UniversitySauðárkrókur, 551Iceland
- Icelandic Museum of Natural History, Brynjólfsgata 5ReykjavíkIS‐107Iceland
| | - Kevin J. Parsons
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health & Comparative MedicineUniversity of GlasgowGlasgow, G12 8QQU.K.
| | - Richard Svanbäck
- Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Science for Life LaboratoryUppsala University, Norbyvägen 18DUppsala, SE‐752 36Sweden
| | - Katja Räsänen
- Department of Aquatic EcologyEAWAG, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, and Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH‐Zurich, Ueberlandstrasse 133CH‐8600DübendorfSwitzerland
| | - Moira M. Ferguson
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of GuelphGuelph, Ontario N1G 2W1Canada
| | - Colin E. Adams
- Scottish Centre for Ecology and the Natural Environment, IBAHCMUniversity of GlasgowGlasgow G12 8QQU.K.
| | - Per‐Arne Amundsen
- Freshwater Ecology Group, Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and EconomicsUniversity of TromsöTromsö, N‐9037Norway
| | - Pia Bartels
- Department of Ecology and Environmental ScienceUmeå UniversityUmeå, SE‐90187Sweden
| | - Colin W. Bean
- Scottish Natural Heritage, Caspian House, Mariner Court, Clydebank Business ParkClydebank, G81 2NRU.K.
| | - Janette W. Boughman
- Department of Integrative BiologyMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, MI 48824U.S.A.
| | - Göran Englund
- Department of Ecology and Environmental ScienceUmeå UniversityUmeå, SE‐90187Sweden
| | - Jóhannes Guðbrandsson
- Institute of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of IcelandReykjavik, 101Iceland
| | | | - Alan G. Hudson
- Department of Ecology and Environmental ScienceUmeå UniversityUmeå, SE‐90187Sweden
| | - Kimmo K. Kahilainen
- Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Campus Evenstad, Anne Evenstadvei 80Koppang, NO‐2480Norway
| | - Rune Knudsen
- Freshwater Ecology Group, Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and EconomicsUniversity of TromsöTromsö, N‐9037Norway
| | | | - Camille A‐L. Leblanc
- Department of Aquaculture and Fish BiologyHólar UniversitySauðárkrókur, 551Iceland
| | - Zophonías Jónsson
- Institute of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of IcelandReykjavik, 101Iceland
| | - Gunnar Öhlund
- Department of Ecology and Environmental ScienceUmeå UniversityUmeå, SE‐90187Sweden
| | - Carl Smith
- School of BiologyUniversity of St Andrews, St. AndrewsFife, KY16 9AJU.K.
| | - Sigurður S. Snorrason
- Institute of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of IcelandReykjavik, 101Iceland
| |
Collapse
|
178
|
Wilkins AS. A striking example of developmental bias in an evolutionary process: The "domestication syndrome". Evol Dev 2019; 22:143-153. [PMID: 31545016 DOI: 10.1111/ede.12319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The question of whether "developmental bias" can influence evolution is still controversial, despite much circumstantial evidence and a good theoretical argument. Here, I will argue that the domestication of mammalian species, which took place independently more than two dozen times, provides a particularly convincing example of developmental bias in evolution. The singular finding that underlies this claim is the repeated occurrence in domesticated mammals of a set of distinctive traits, none of which were deliberately selected. This phenomenon has been termed "the domestication syndrome". In this article, I will: (a) describe the properties of the domestication syndrome; (b) show how it can be explained in terms of the operation of a specific genetic regulatory network, that which governs neural crest cell development; and (c) discuss Dmitry Belyaev's idea of "destabilizing selection," which holds that selecting for a new behavior often entails neuroendocrine alterations that alter many aspects of development. Finally, I will argue for the potential general significance of such destabilizing selection, in combination with developmental bias, in animal evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adam S Wilkins
- Institute of Theoretical Biology, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
179
|
Uller T, Feiner N, Radersma R, Jackson ISC, Rago A. Developmental plasticity and evolutionary explanations. Evol Dev 2019; 22:47-55. [PMID: 31535438 DOI: 10.1111/ede.12314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2019] [Revised: 08/05/2019] [Accepted: 08/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Developmental plasticity looks like a promising bridge between ecological and developmental perspectives on evolution. Yet, there is no consensus on whether plasticity is part of the explanation for adaptive evolution or an optional "add-on" to genes and natural selection. Here, we suggest that these differences in opinion are caused by differences in the simplifying assumptions, and particular idealizations, that enable evolutionary explanation. We outline why idealizations designed to explain evolution through natural selection prevent an understanding of the role of development, and vice versa. We show that representing plasticity as a reaction norm conforms with the idealizations of selective explanations, which can give the false impression that plasticity has no explanatory power for adaptive evolution. Finally, we use examples to illustrate why evolutionary explanations that include developmental plasticity may in fact be more satisfactory than explanations that solely refer to genes and natural selection.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tobias Uller
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | | | | | | | - Alfredo Rago
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.,Institute for Life Sciences/Department of Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
180
|
Abstract
We agree with Heyes that an explanation of human uniqueness must appeal to cultural evolution, and not just genes. Her account, though, focuses narrowly on internal cognitive mechanisms. This causes her to mischaracterize human behavior and to overlook the role of material culture. A more powerful account would view cognitive gadgets as spanning organisms and their (shared) environments.
Collapse
|
181
|
|
182
|
Jackson ISC. Developmental bias in the fossil record. Evol Dev 2019; 22:88-102. [PMID: 31475437 DOI: 10.1111/ede.12312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2019] [Revised: 08/05/2019] [Accepted: 08/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The role of developmental bias and plasticity in evolution is a central research interest in evolutionary biology. Studies of these concepts and related processes are usually conducted on extant systems and have seen limited investigation in the fossil record. Here, I identify plasticity-led evolution (PLE) as a form of developmental bias accessible through scrutiny of paleontological material. I summarize the process of PLE and describe it in terms of the environmentally mediated accumulation and release of cryptic genetic variation. Given this structure, I then predict its manifestation in the fossil record, discuss its similarity to quantum evolution and punctuated equilibrium, and argue that these describe macroevolutionary patterns concordant with PLE. Finally, I suggest methods and directions towards providing evidence of PLE in the fossil record and conclude that such endeavors are likely to be highly rewarding.
Collapse
|
183
|
Hu Y, Linz DM, Parker ES, Schwab DB, Casasa S, Macagno ALM, Moczek AP. Developmental bias in horned dung beetles and its contributions to innovation, adaptation, and resilience. Evol Dev 2019; 22:165-180. [PMID: 31475451 DOI: 10.1111/ede.12310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Developmental processes transduce diverse influences during phenotype formation, thereby biasing and structuring amount and type of phenotypic variation available for evolutionary processes to act on. The causes, extent, and consequences of this bias are subject to significant debate. Here we explore the role of developmental bias in contributing to organisms' ability to innovate, to adapt to novel or stressful conditions, and to generate well integrated, resilient phenotypes in the face of perturbations. We focus our inquiry on one taxon, the horned dung beetle genus Onthophagus, and review the role developmental bias might play across several levels of biological organization: (a) gene regulatory networks that pattern specific body regions; (b) plastic developmental mechanisms that coordinate body wide responses to changing environments and; (c) developmental symbioses and niche construction that enable organisms to build teams and to actively modify their own selective environments. We posit that across all these levels developmental bias shapes the way living systems innovate, adapt, and withstand stress, in ways that can alternately limit, bias, or facilitate developmental evolution. We conclude that the structuring contribution of developmental bias in evolution deserves further study to better understand why and how developmental evolution unfolds the way it does.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yonggang Hu
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
| | - David M Linz
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
| | - Erik S Parker
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
| | - Daniel B Schwab
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
| | - Sofia Casasa
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
| | | | - Armin P Moczek
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
| |
Collapse
|
184
|
Foster SA, Baker JA. Loss and re-emergence of plastic ancestral behavioural traits: influences on phenotypic and evolutionary pattern. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.06.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
|
185
|
Abstract
As a form of adaptive plasticity that allows organisms to shift their phenotype toward the optimum, learning is inherently a source of developmental bias. Learning may be of particular significance to the evolutionary biology community because it allows animals to generate adaptively biased novel behavior tuned to the environment and, through social learning, to propagate behavioral traits to other individuals, also in an adaptively biased manner. We describe several types of developmental bias manifest in learning, including an adaptive bias, historical bias, origination bias, and transmission bias, stressing that these can influence evolutionary dynamics through generating nonrandom phenotypic variation and/or nonrandom environmental states. Theoretical models and empirical data have established that learning can impose direction on adaptive evolution, affect evolutionary rates (both speeding up and slowing down responses to selection under different conditions) and outcomes, influence the probability of populations reaching global optimum, and affect evolvability. Learning is characterized by highly specific, path-dependent interactions with the (social and physical) environment, often resulting in new phenotypic outcomes. Consequently, learning regularly introduces novelty into phenotype space. These considerations imply that learning may commonly generate plasticity first evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kevin N Laland
- School of Biology, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, UK
| | - Wataru Toyokawa
- School of Biology, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, UK.,Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Thomas Oudman
- School of Biology, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, UK.,Department of Coastal Systems, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
186
|
Frainer G, Moreno IB, Serpa N, Galatius A, Wiedermann D, Huggenberger S. Ontogeny and evolution of the sound-generating structures in the infraorder Delphinida (Odontoceti: Delphinida). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blz118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThe ontogeny of the structures involved in sound generation and modulation in dolphins was investigated through a comparison of the soft nasal structures of foetal, perinatal, neonatal and adult specimens of Pontoporiidae, Phocoenidae and Delphinidae. Foetal samples were sectioned at 10 µm in the saggital and coronal planes, and stained for histological examination. Computed tomography and magentic resonance imaging scan series were combined with new data to represent the ontogenetic stages of the three groups. The images were analysed in 3D-Slicer to characterize the general head topography. The origins of the melon and the vestibular air sac were detected between Carnegie stages C16 and F22. The three groups analysed showed distinct formation of the nasal plug and nasal plug muscles, mainly with regard to the loss of fat pathways (or their maintenance in Pontoporiidae) and the development of the nasal plug muscles on both sides (during perinatal development of Phocoenidae) or just on the left side (during postnatal development in Delphinidae). Broadband vocalizing delphinidans might have evolved under heterochronic events acting on the formation of sound-generating structures such as the rostrum and vestibular air sacs, and on the transformation of the branches of the melon, probably leading to a reduced directionality of the sonar beam.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Guilherme Frainer
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
- Centro de Estudos Costeiros, Limnológicos e Marinhos (CECLIMAR/UFRGS), Campus Litoral Norte, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Imbé, Brazil
- Department II of Anatomy, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Ignacio B Moreno
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
- Centro de Estudos Costeiros, Limnológicos e Marinhos (CECLIMAR/UFRGS), Campus Litoral Norte, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Imbé, Brazil
| | - Nathalia Serpa
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
- Centro de Estudos Costeiros, Limnológicos e Marinhos (CECLIMAR/UFRGS), Campus Litoral Norte, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Imbé, Brazil
| | - Anders Galatius
- Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Dirk Wiedermann
- Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research, Cologne, Germany
| | | |
Collapse
|
187
|
Lafuente E, Beldade P. Genomics of Developmental Plasticity in Animals. Front Genet 2019; 10:720. [PMID: 31481970 PMCID: PMC6709652 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2019.00720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2019] [Accepted: 07/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Developmental plasticity refers to the property by which the same genotype produces distinct phenotypes depending on the environmental conditions under which development takes place. By allowing organisms to produce phenotypes adjusted to the conditions that adults will experience, developmental plasticity can provide the means to cope with environmental heterogeneity. Developmental plasticity can be adaptive and its evolution can be shaped by natural selection. It has also been suggested that developmental plasticity can facilitate adaptation and promote diversification. Here, we summarize current knowledge on the evolution of plasticity and on the impact of plasticity on adaptive evolution, and we identify recent advances and important open questions about the genomics of developmental plasticity in animals. We give special attention to studies using transcriptomics to identify genes whose expression changes across developmental environments and studies using genetic mapping to identify loci that contribute to variation in plasticity and can fuel its evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Patrícia Beldade
- Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal
- CNRS-UMR5174, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Changes, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
| |
Collapse
|
188
|
Abstract
Throughout the recent history of research at the intersection of evolution and development, notions such as developmental constraint, evolutionary novelty, and evolvability have been prominent, but the term "developmental bias" has scarcely been used. And one may even doubt whether a unique and principled definition of bias is possible. I argue that the concept of developmental bias can still play a vital scientific role by means of setting an explanatory agenda that motivates investigation and guides the formulation of integrative explanatory frameworks. Less crucial is a definition that would classify patterns of phenotypic variation and unify variational patterns involving different traits and taxa as all being "bias." Instead, what we should want is a concept that generates intellectual identity across various researchers, and that unites the diverse fields and approaches relevant to the study of developmental bias, from paleontology to behavioral biology. I point to some advantages of conducting research specifically under the label of "developmental bias," compared with employing other, more common terms such as "evolvability."
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ingo Brigandt
- Department of Philosophy, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
189
|
Abstract
What role does language play in our thoughts? A longstanding proposal that has gained traction among supporters of embodied or grounded cognition suggests that it serves as a cognitive scaffold. This idea turns on the fact that language-with its ability to capture statistical regularities, leverage culturally acquired information, and engage grounded metaphors-is an effective and readily available support for our thinking. In this essay, I argue that language should be viewed as more than this; it should be viewed as a neuroenhancement. The neurologically realized language system is an important subcomponent of a flexible, multimodal, and multilevel conceptual system. It is not merely a source for information about the world but also a computational add-on that extends our conceptual reach. This approach provides a compelling explanation of the course of development, our facility with abstract concepts, and even the scope of language-specific influences on cognition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Guy Dove
- Department of Philosophy, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA
| |
Collapse
|
190
|
Ho WC, Zhang J. Genetic Gene Expression Changes during Environmental Adaptations Tend to Reverse Plastic Changes Even after the Correction for Statistical Nonindependence. Mol Biol Evol 2019; 36:604-612. [PMID: 30649427 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msz002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Organismal adaptations to new environments often begin with plastic phenotypic changes followed by genetic phenotypic changes, but the relationship between the two types of changes is controversial. Contrary to the view that plastic changes serve as steppingstones to genetic adaptations, recent transcriptome studies reported that genetic gene expression changes more often reverse than reinforce plastic expression changes in experimental evolution. However, it was pointed out that this trend could be an artifact of the statistical nonindependence between the estimates of plastic and genetic phenotypic changes, because both estimates rely on the phenotypic measure at the plastic stage. Using computer simulation, we show that indeed the nonindependence can cause an apparent excess of expression reversion relative to reinforcement. We propose a parametric bootstrap method and show by simulation that it removes the bias almost entirely. Analyzing transcriptome data from a total of 34 parallel lines in 5 experimental evolution studies of Escherichia coli, yeast, and guppies that are amenable to our method confirms that genetic expression changes tend to reverse plastic changes. Thus, at least for gene expression traits, phenotypic plasticity does not generally facilitate genetic adaptation. Several other comparisons of statistically nonindependent estimates are commonly performed in evolutionary genomics such as that between cis- and trans-effects of mutations on gene expression and that between transcriptional and translational effects on gene expression. It is important to validate previous results from such comparisons, and our proposed statistical analyses can be useful for this purpose.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wei-Chin Ho
- Center for Mechanisms of Evolution, The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
| | - Jianzhi Zhang
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| |
Collapse
|
191
|
Yap WJ, Cheon B, Hong YY, Christopoulos GI. Cultural Attachment: From Behavior to Computational Neuroscience. Front Hum Neurosci 2019; 13:209. [PMID: 31281247 PMCID: PMC6596443 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2019] [Accepted: 06/03/2019] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Cultural attachment (CA) refers to processes that allow culture and its symbols to provide psychological security when facing threat. Epistemologically, whereas we currently have an adequate predictivist model of CA, it is necessary to prepare for a mechanistic approach that will not only predict, but also explain CA phenomena. Toward that direction, we here first examine the concepts and mechanisms that are the building blocks of both the prototypical maternal attachment as well as CA. Based on existing robust neuroscience models we associate these concepts and mechanisms with bona fide neurobiological functions to advance an integrative neurobiological model of CA. We further discuss the unresolved relationship of CA to other similar socio-cognitive concepts such as familiarity. Overall aim of the paper is to highlight the importance of integrating CA theory to computational approaches to culture and evolution (such as predictive processing computations explaining niche construction), as this will allow a dynamic interpretation of cultural processes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wei-Jie Yap
- Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.,Decision, Environmental and Organizational Neuroscience Lab, Culture Science Institute, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Bobby Cheon
- School of Social Sciences (Psychology), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.,Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A∗STAR), Singapore, Singapore
| | - Ying-Yi Hong
- Department of Marketing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - George I Christopoulos
- Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.,Decision, Environmental and Organizational Neuroscience Lab, Culture Science Institute, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| |
Collapse
|
192
|
|
193
|
Whitehead H, Laland KN, Rendell L, Thorogood R, Whiten A. The reach of gene-culture coevolution in animals. Nat Commun 2019; 10:2405. [PMID: 31160560 PMCID: PMC6546714 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10293-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2018] [Accepted: 05/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Culture (behaviour based on socially transmitted information) is present in diverse animal species, yet how it interacts with genetic evolution remains largely unexplored. Here, we review the evidence for gene-culture coevolution in animals, especially birds, cetaceans and primates. We describe how culture can relax or intensify selection under different circumstances, create new selection pressures by changing ecology or behaviour, and favour adaptations, including in other species. Finally, we illustrate how, through culturally mediated migration and assortative mating, culture can shape population genetic structure and diversity. This evidence suggests strongly that animal culture plays an important evolutionary role, and we encourage explicit analyses of gene-culture coevolution in nature.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hal Whitehead
- Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, B3H 4R2, Canada.
| | - Kevin N Laland
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9TF, United Kingdom
| | - Luke Rendell
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9TF, United Kingdom
| | - Rose Thorogood
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom
- Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
- Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences (Research Program in Organismal & Evolutionary Biology), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
| | - Andrew Whiten
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9JP, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
194
|
Stout D, Rogers MJ, Jaeggi AV, Semaw S. Archaeology and the Origins of Human Cumulative Culture: A Case Study from the Earliest Oldowan at Gona, Ethiopia. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1086/703173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
|
195
|
Charlesworth B. Book review of Walsh, B. and Lynch, M. 2018. Evolution and selection of quantitative traits. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. xix + 1459 pp. ISBN: 978‐0‐19‐883087‐0. $150. Evolution 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.13738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Brian Charlesworth
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological SciencesUniversity of Edinburgh Edinburgh EH9 3FL United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
196
|
Baedke J. O Organism, Where Art Thou? Old and New Challenges for Organism-Centered Biology. JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF BIOLOGY 2019; 52:293-324. [PMID: 30465299 DOI: 10.1007/s10739-018-9549-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
This paper addresses theoretical challenges, still relevant today, that arose in the first decades of the twentieth century related to the concept of the organism. During this period, new insights into the plasticity and robustness of organisms as well as their complex interactions fueled calls, especially in the UK and in the German-speaking world, for grounding biological theory on the concept of the organism. This new organism-centered biology (OCB) understood organisms as the most important explanatory and methodological unit in biological investigations. At least three theoretical strands can be distinguished in this movement: Organicism, dialectical materialism, and (German) holistic biology. This paper shows that a major challenge of OCB was to describe the individual organism as a causally autonomous and discrete unit with consistent boundaries and, at the same time, as inextricably interwoven with its environment. In other words, OCB had to conciliate individualistic with anti-individualistic perspectives. This challenge was addressed by developing a concept of life that included functionalist and metabolic elements, as well as biochemical and physical ones. It allowed for specifying organisms as life forms that actively delimit themselves from the environment. Finally, this paper shows that the recent return to the concept of the organism, especially in the so-called "Extended Evolutionary Synthesis," is challenged by similar anti-individualistic tendencies. However, in contrast to its early-twentieth-century forerunner, today's organism-centered approaches have not yet offered a solution to this problem.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jan Baedke
- Department of Philosophy I, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
197
|
Abstract
The processes underwriting the acquisition of culture remain unclear. How are shared habits, norms, and expectations learned and maintained with precision and reliability across large-scale sociocultural ensembles? Is there a unifying account of the mechanisms involved in the acquisition of culture? Notions such as "shared expectations," the "selective patterning of attention and behaviour," "cultural evolution," "cultural inheritance," and "implicit learning" are the main candidates to underpin a unifying account of cognition and the acquisition of culture; however, their interactions require greater specification and clarification. In this article, we integrate these candidates using the variational (free-energy) approach to human cognition and culture in theoretical neuroscience. We describe the construction by humans of social niches that afford epistemic resources called cultural affordances. We argue that human agents learn the shared habits, norms, and expectations of their culture through immersive participation in patterned cultural practices that selectively pattern attention and behaviour. We call this process "thinking through other minds" (TTOM) - in effect, the process of inferring other agents' expectations about the world and how to behave in social context. We argue that for humans, information from and about other people's expectations constitutes the primary domain of statistical regularities that humans leverage to predict and organize behaviour. The integrative model we offer has implications that can advance theories of cognition, enculturation, adaptation, and psychopathology. Crucially, this formal (variational) treatment seeks to resolve key debates in current cognitive science, such as the distinction between internalist and externalist accounts of theory of mind abilities and the more fundamental distinction between dynamical and representational accounts of enactivism.
Collapse
|
198
|
Lewens T. The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis: what is the debate about, and what might success for the extenders look like? Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blz064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
Debate over the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) ranges over three quite different domains of enquiry. Protagonists are committed to substantive positions regarding (1) empirical questions concerning (for example) the properties and prevalence of systems of epigenetic inheritance; (2) historical characterizations of the modern synthesis; and (3) conceptual/philosophical matters concerning (among other things) the nature of evolutionary processes, and the relationship between selection and adaptation. With these different aspects of the debate in view, it is possible to demonstrate the range of cross-cutting positions on offer when well-informed evolutionists consider their stance on the EES. This overview of the multiple dimensions of debate also enables clarification of two philosophical elements of the EES debate, regarding the status of niche-construction and the role of selection in explaining adaptation. Finally, it points the way to a possible resolution of the EES debate, via a pragmatic approach to evolutionary enquiry.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tim Lewens
- University of Cambridge – History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge, UK
| |
Collapse
|
199
|
Gupta M, Prasad NG, Dey S, Joshi A, Vidya T NC. Niche construction in evolutionary theory: the construction of an academic niche? J Genet 2019; 96:491-504. [PMID: 28761012 DOI: 10.1007/s12041-017-0787-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Manan Gupta
- Evolutionary Biology Laboratory, Evolutionary and Organismal Biology Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bengaluru 560 064, India.
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
200
|
Levis NA, Pfennig DW. How stabilizing selection and nongenetic inheritance combine to shape the evolution of phenotypic plasticity. J Evol Biol 2019; 32:706-716. [PMID: 30968503 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2018] [Revised: 04/01/2019] [Accepted: 04/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Relatively little is known about whether and how nongenetic inheritance interacts with selection to impact the evolution of phenotypic plasticity. Here, we empirically evaluated how stabilizing selection and a common form of nongenetic inheritance-maternal environmental effects-jointly influence the evolution of phenotypic plasticity in natural populations of spadefoot toads. We compared populations that previous fieldwork has shown to have evolved conspicuous plasticity in resource-use phenotypes ("resource polyphenism") with those that, owing to stabilizing selection favouring a narrower range of such phenotypes, appear to have lost this plasticity. We show that: (a) this apparent loss of plasticity in nature reflects a condition-dependent maternal effect and not a genetic loss of plasticity, that is "genetic assimilation," and (b) this plasticity is not costly. By shielding noncostly plasticity from selection, nongenetic inheritance generally, and maternal effects specifically, can preclude genetic assimilation from occurring and consequently impede adaptive (genetic) evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas A Levis
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - David W Pfennig
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| |
Collapse
|