Emergence of phenotypic plasticity through epigenetic mechanisms.

ABSTRACT: Plasticity is found in all domains of life and is particularly relevant when populations experience variable environmental conditions. Traditionally, evolutionary models of plasticity are non-mechanistic: they typically view reactions norms as the target of selection, without considering the underlying genetics explicitly. Consequently, there have been difficulties in understanding the emergence of plasticity, and in explaining its limits and costs. In this paper, we offer a novel mechanistic approximation for the emergence and evolution of plasticity. We simulate random "epigenetic mutations" in the genotype-phenotype mapping, of the kind enabled by DNA-methylations/demethylations. The frequency of epigenetic mutations at loci affecting the phenotype is sensitive to organism stress (trait

SUBMITTER: Romero-Mujalli D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11291936 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature