An end to endless forms: epistasis, phenotype distribution bias, and nonuniform evolution.

ABSTRACT: Studies of the evolution of development characterize the way in which gene regulatory dynamics during ontogeny constructs and channels phenotypic variation. These studies have identified a number of evolutionary regularities: (1) phenotypes occupy only a small subspace of possible phenotypes, (2) the influence of mutation is not uniform and is often canalized, and (3) a great deal of morphological variation evolved early in the history of multicellular life. An important implication of these studies is that diversity is largely the outcome of the evolution of gene regulation rather than the emergence of new, structural genes. Using a simple model that considers a generic property of developmental maps-the interaction between multiple genetic elements and the nonlinearity of gene interactio

SUBMITTER: Borenstein E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2562988 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature