Eco-evolutionary feedback and the tuning of proto-developmental life cycles.

Multicellular organisms depend on developmental programs to coordinate growth and differentiation from single cells, but the origins of development are unclear. A possible starting point is stochastic phenotypic variation generated by molecular noise. Given appropriate environmental conditions, nois...

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Main Authors: Eric Libby, Paul B Rainey
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3867345?pdf=render
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author Eric Libby
Paul B Rainey
author_facet Eric Libby
Paul B Rainey
author_sort Eric Libby
collection DOAJ
description Multicellular organisms depend on developmental programs to coordinate growth and differentiation from single cells, but the origins of development are unclear. A possible starting point is stochastic phenotypic variation generated by molecular noise. Given appropriate environmental conditions, noise-driven differentiation could conceivably evolve so as to come under regulatory control; however, abiotic conditions are likely to be restrictive. Drawing from an experimental system, we present a model in which environmental fluctuations are coupled to population growth. We show that this coupling generates stable selection for a single optimal strategy that is largely insensitive to environmental conditions, including the number of competitors, carrying capacity of the environment, difference in growth rates among phenotypic variants, and population density. We argue that this optimal strategy establishes stabilizing conditions likely to improve the quality and reliability of information experienced by evolving organisms, thus increasing opportunity for the evolutionary emergence of developmental programs.
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spelling doaj.art-883c9de739b1487db88c1b7202bd94c22022-12-22T00:09:33ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032013-01-01812e8227410.1371/journal.pone.0082274Eco-evolutionary feedback and the tuning of proto-developmental life cycles.Eric LibbyPaul B RaineyMulticellular organisms depend on developmental programs to coordinate growth and differentiation from single cells, but the origins of development are unclear. A possible starting point is stochastic phenotypic variation generated by molecular noise. Given appropriate environmental conditions, noise-driven differentiation could conceivably evolve so as to come under regulatory control; however, abiotic conditions are likely to be restrictive. Drawing from an experimental system, we present a model in which environmental fluctuations are coupled to population growth. We show that this coupling generates stable selection for a single optimal strategy that is largely insensitive to environmental conditions, including the number of competitors, carrying capacity of the environment, difference in growth rates among phenotypic variants, and population density. We argue that this optimal strategy establishes stabilizing conditions likely to improve the quality and reliability of information experienced by evolving organisms, thus increasing opportunity for the evolutionary emergence of developmental programs.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3867345?pdf=render
spellingShingle Eric Libby
Paul B Rainey
Eco-evolutionary feedback and the tuning of proto-developmental life cycles.
PLoS ONE
title Eco-evolutionary feedback and the tuning of proto-developmental life cycles.
title_full Eco-evolutionary feedback and the tuning of proto-developmental life cycles.
title_fullStr Eco-evolutionary feedback and the tuning of proto-developmental life cycles.
title_full_unstemmed Eco-evolutionary feedback and the tuning of proto-developmental life cycles.
title_short Eco-evolutionary feedback and the tuning of proto-developmental life cycles.
title_sort eco evolutionary feedback and the tuning of proto developmental life cycles
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3867345?pdf=render
work_keys_str_mv AT ericlibby ecoevolutionaryfeedbackandthetuningofprotodevelopmentallifecycles
AT paulbrainey ecoevolutionaryfeedbackandthetuningofprotodevelopmentallifecycles