Reusch TBH, Baums IB, Werner B. Evolution via somatic genetic variation in modular species.
Trends Ecol Evol 2021;
36:1083-92. [PMID:
34538501 DOI:
10.1016/j.tree.2021.08.011]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2021] [Revised: 08/14/2021] [Accepted: 08/20/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Somatic genetic variation (SoGV) may play a consequential yet underappreciated role in long-lived, modular species among plants, animals, and fungi. Recent genomic data identified two levels of genetic heterogeneity, between cell lines and between modules, that are subject to multilevel selection. Because SoGV can transfer into gametes when germlines are sequestered late in ontogeny (plants, algae, and fungi and some basal animals), sexual and asexual processes provide interdependent routes of mutational input and impact the accumulation of genetic load and molecular evolution rates of the integrated asexual/sexual life cycle. Avenues for future research include possible fitness effects of SoGV, the identification and implications of multilevel selection, and modeling of asexual selective sweeps using approaches from tumor evolution.
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