Smaller gene networks permit longer persistence in fast-changing environments.

ABSTRACT: The environments in which organisms live and reproduce are rarely static, and as the environment changes, populations must evolve so that phenotypes match the challenges presented. The quantitative traits that map to environmental variables are underlain by hundreds or thousands of interacting genes whose allele frequencies and epistatic relationships must change appropriately for adaptation to occur. Extending an earlier model in which individuals possess an ecologically-critical trait encoded by gene networks of 16 to 256 genes and random or scale-free topology, I test the hypothesis that smaller, scale-free networks permit longer persistence times in a constantly-changing environment. Genetic architecture interacting with the rate of environmental change accounts for 78% of the variance

SUBMITTER: Malcom JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3081814 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature