scholarly journals Fly wing evolution explained by a neutral model with mutational pleiotropy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daohan Jiang ◽  
Jianzhi Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Linear Correlation ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Stabilizing Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Divergence ◽  
Phenotypic Evolution ◽  
Central Question ◽  
Evolutionary Patterns ◽  
Strong Linear Correlation ◽  
Mutational Variance

ABSTRACTTo what extent the speed of mutational production of phenotypic variation determines the rate of long-term phenotypic evolution is a central question in evolutionary biology. In a recent study, Houle et al. addressed this question by studying the mutational variation, microevolution, and macroevolution of locations of vein intersections on fly wings, reporting very slow phenotypic evolution relative to the rates of mutational input, high phylogenetic signals of these traits, and a strong, linear correlation between the mutational variance of a trait and its rate of evolution. Houle et al. examined multiple models of phenotypic evolution but found none consistent with all these observations. Here we demonstrate that the purported linear correlation between mutational variance and evolutionary divergence is an artifact. More importantly, patterns of fly wing evolution are explainable by a simple model in which the wing traits are neutral or neutral within a range of phenotypic values but their evolutionary rates are reduced because most mutations affecting these traits are purged owing to their pleiotropic effects on other traits that are under stabilizing selection. We conclude that the evolutionary patterns of fly wing morphologies are explainable under the existing theoretical framework of phenotypic evolution.

Measuring rates of phenotypic evolution and the inseparability of tempo and mode

Paleobiology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gene Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Random Walk ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Sampling Error ◽  
Strong Dependence ◽  
Interval Length ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Evolutionary Divergence ◽  
Phenotypic Evolution ◽  
Interval Method ◽  
Alternative Approach

Rates of phenotypic evolution are central to many issues in paleontology, but traditional rate metrics such as darwins or haldanes are seldom used because of their strong dependence on interval length. In this paper, I argue that rates are usefully thought of as model parameters that relate magnitudes of evolutionary divergence to elapsed time. Starting with models of directional evolution, random walks, and stasis, I derive for each a reasonable rate metric. These metrics can be linked to existing approaches in evolutionary biology, and simulations show that they can be estimated accurately at any temporal resolution via maximum likelihood, but only when that metric's underlying model is true.The estimation of generational rates of a random walk under realistic paleontological conditions is compared with simulations to that of a prominent alternative approach, Gingerich's LRI (log-rate, log-interval) method. Generational rates are estimated poorly by LRI; they often reflect sampling error more than the actual pace of change. Further simulations show that under some realistic conditions, it is simply not possible to infer generational rates from coarsely sampled populations.These modeling results indicate a complex dependence between evolutionary mode and the measurement of evolutionary rates, and that there is unlikely to be a rate metric that works well for all traits and time scales. Compilations of paleontological and phylogenetic data indicate that all of the three rate metrics derived here show some relationship with interval length. Although there is no perfect rate metric, at present the most practical choices derive from the parameters of the stasis and random walk models. The latter, called the step variance, is particularly promising as a rate metric in paleontology and comparative biology.

scholarly journals Exploratory Analysis to Predict Optimal Tumor Burden for Starting Lenvatinib in Patients With Radioiodine-Refractory Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiaki Suzuki ◽  
Naomi Kiyota ◽  
Yoshinori Imamura ◽  
Hideaki Goto ◽  
Hirotaka Suto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thyroid Cancer ◽  
Linear Correlation ◽  
Differentiated Thyroid Cancer ◽  
Tumor Burden ◽  
Post Treatment ◽  
Optimal Timing ◽  
Tumor Diameter ◽  
Strong Linear Correlation ◽  
Optimal Tumor

BackgroundWe previously reported that a high tumor burden is a prognostic factor based on an analysis of 26 patients with radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (RR-DTC) who were treated with lenvatinib. However, the optimal tumor burden for starting lenvatinib still remains to be defined. The aim of this retrospective study was to further explore in the same patient cohort the optimal timing for the start of lenvatinib by focusing on the pre- and post-treatment tumor burden.MethodsThe 26 patients were treated with lenvatinib from 2012 to 2017. We explored the optimal timing for the start of lenvatinib by comparing the characteristics of long-term responders who were defined as patients with progression-free survival ≥ 30 months and non-long-term responders.ResultsLong-term responders had a smaller post-treatment tumor burden at maximum shrinkage than non-long-term responders. Further, post-treatment tumor burden had a strong linear correlation with baseline tumor burden. We created an estimation formula for baseline tumor burden related to prognosis, using these regression lines. Patients with a sum of diameters of target lesions < 60 mm or maximum tumor diameter < 34 mm at baseline were estimated to have significantly better survival outcomes.ConclusionsWe found a strong linear correlation between pre- and post-treatment tumor burden. Our results suggested a cut-off value for baseline tumor burden for long-term prognosis among patients treated with lenvatinib.

Geographic Variation in Behavior

1999 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Geographic Variation ◽  
Animal Behavior ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Behavioral Characteristics ◽  
Behavioral Differences ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Behavioral Evolution ◽  
Evolutionary Patterns ◽  
Wide Range

Studies of animal behavior often assume that all members of a species exhibit the same behavior. Geographic Variation in Behavior shows that, on the contrary, there is substantional variation within species across a wide range of taxa. Including work from pioneers in the field, this volume provides a balanced overview of research on behavioral characteristics that vary geographically. The authors explore the mechanisms by which behavioral differences evolve and examine related methodological issues. Taken together, the work collected here demonstrates that genetically based geographic variation may be far more widespread than previously suspected. The book also shows how variation in behavior can illuminate both behavioral evolution and general evolutionary patterns. Unique among books on behavior in its emphasis on geographic variation, this volume is a valuable new resource for students and researchers in animal behavior and evolutionary biology.

Mass extinctions alter extinction and origination dynamics with respect to body size

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1960) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro M. Monarrez ◽  
Noel A. Heim ◽  
Jonathan L. Payne
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Marine Animal ◽  
Mass Extinctions ◽  
Extinction Selectivity ◽  
Extinction Events ◽  
Mass Extinction Events ◽  
Marine Biosphere

Whether mass extinctions and their associated recoveries represent an intensification of background extinction and origination dynamics versus a separate macroevolutionary regime remains a central debate in evolutionary biology. The previous focus has been on extinction, but origination dynamics may be equally or more important for long-term evolutionary outcomes. The evolution of animal body size is an ideal process to test for differences in macroevolutionary regimes, as body size is easily determined, comparable across distantly related taxa and scales with organismal traits. Here, we test for shifts in selectivity between background intervals and the ‘Big Five’ mass extinction events using capture–mark–recapture models. Our body-size data cover 10 203 fossil marine animal genera spanning 10 Linnaean classes with occurrences ranging from Early Ordovician to Late Pleistocene (485–1 Ma). Most classes exhibit differences in both origination and extinction selectivity between background intervals and mass extinctions, with the direction of selectivity varying among classes and overall exhibiting stronger selectivity during origination after mass extinction than extinction during the mass extinction. Thus, not only do mass extinction events shift the marine biosphere into a new macroevolutionary regime, the dynamics of recovery from mass extinction also appear to play an underappreciated role in shaping the biosphere in their aftermath.

A strong linear correlation between the surface charge density on Ag nanoparticles and the amount of propylene adsorbed

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (19) ◽  
pp. 6987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jung Hyun Lee ◽  
Sang Wook Kang ◽  
Min Sun Yeom ◽  
Young Rae Kim ◽  
Hyungwoo Choi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Charge Density ◽  
Surface Charge ◽  
Linear Correlation ◽  
Ag Nanoparticles ◽  
Surface Charge Density ◽  
Strong Linear Correlation

scholarly journals Evolutionary dynamics of neutral phenotypes under DNA substitution models

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shadi Zabad ◽  
Alan M Moses
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Gc Content ◽  
Stabilizing Selection ◽  
Restoring Force ◽  
Dna Substitution ◽  
Long Term Trends ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Molecular Phenotypes

AbstractWe study the evolution of quantitative molecular traits in the absence of selection. Using a simple theory based on Felsenstein’s 1981 DNA substitution model, we predict a linear restoring force on the mean of an additive phenotype. Remarkably, the mean dynamics are independent of the effect sizes and genotype and are similar to the widely-used OU model for stabilizing selection. We confirm the predictions empirically using additive molecular phenotypes calculated from ancestral reconstructions of putatively unconstrained DNA sequences in primate genomes. We show that the OU model is favoured by inference software even when applied to GC content of unconstrained sequences or simulations of DNA evolution. We predict and confirm empirically that the dynamics of the variance are more complicated than those predicted by the OU model, and show that our results for the restoring force of mutation hold even for non-additive phenotypes, such as number of transcription factor binding sites, longest encoded peptide and folding propensity of the encoded peptide. Our results have implications for efforts to infer selection based on quantitative phenotype dynamics as well as to understand long-term trends in evolution of quantitative molecular traits.

scholarly journals How development affects evolution

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauricio González-Forero ◽  
Andy Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Niche Construction ◽  
Fitness Landscape ◽  
Stabilizing Selection ◽  
Mathematical Framework ◽  
Phenotypic Evolution ◽  
Landscape Development ◽  
Developmental Constraints ◽  
Evolutionary Pathway ◽  
Punctuated Equilibria ◽  
Adaptive Radiations

How development affects evolution. A mathematical framework that explicitly integrates development into evolution has recently been derived. Here we use this framework to analyse how development affects evolution. We show that, whilst selection pushes genetic and phenotypic evolution uphill on the fitness landscape, development determines the admissible evolutionary pathway, such that evolutionary outcomes occur at path peaks, which need not be peaks of the fitness landscape. Development can generate path peaks, triggering adaptive radiations, even on constant, single-peak landscapes. Phenotypic plasticity, niche construction, extra-genetic inheritance, and developmental bias variously alter the evolutionary path and hence the outcome. Selective development, whereby phenotype construction may point in the adaptive direction, may induce evolution either towards or away landscape peaks depending on the developmental constraints. Additionally, developmental propagation of phenotypic effects over age allows for the evolution of negative senescence. These results help explain empirical observations including punctuated equilibria, the paradox of stasis, the rarity of stabilizing selection, and negative senescence, and show that development has a major role in evolution.

scholarly journals Evolution of correlated complexity in the radically different courtship signals of birds-of-paradise

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell A. Ligon ◽  
Christopher D. Diaz ◽  
Janelle L. Morano ◽  
Jolyon Troscianko ◽  
Martin Stevens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Functional Integration ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Evolutionary Patterns ◽  
Evolutionary Innovation ◽  
Birds Of Paradise ◽  
Analytical Approaches

Ornaments used in courtship often vary wildly among species, reflecting the evolutionary interplay between mate preference functions and the constraints imposed by natural selection. Consequently, understanding the evolutionary dynamics responsible for ornament diversification has been a longstanding challenge in evolutionary biology. However, comparing radically different ornaments across species, as well as different classes of ornaments within species, is a profound challenge to understanding diversification of sexual signals. Using novel methods and a unique natural history dataset, we explore evolutionary patterns of ornament evolution in a group - the birds-of-paradise - exhibiting dramatic phenotypic diversification widely assumed to be driven by sexual selection. Rather than the tradeoff between ornament types originally envisioned by Darwin and Wallace, we found positive correlations among cross-modal (visual/acoustic) signals indicating functional integration of ornamental traits into a composite unit - the courtship phenotype. Furthermore, given the broad theoretical and empirical support for the idea that systemic robustness - functional overlap and interdependency - promotes evolutionary innovation, we posit that birds-of-paradise have radiated extensively through ornamental phenotype space as a consequence of the robustness in the courtship phenotype that we document at a phylogenetic scale. We suggest that the degree of robustness in courtship phenotypes among taxa can provide new insights into the relative influence of sexual and natural selection on phenotypic radiations.Author SummaryAnimals frequently vary widely in ornamentation, even among closely related species. Understanding the patterns that underlie this variation is a significant challenge, requiring comparisons among drastically different traits - like comparing apples to oranges. Here, we use novel analytical approaches to quantify variation in ornamental diversity and richness across the wildly divergent birds-of-paradise, a textbook example of how sexual selection can profoundly shape organismal phenotypes. We find that color and acoustic complexity, along with behavior and acoustic complexity, are positively correlated across evolutionary time-scales. Positive covariation among ornament classes suggests that selection is acting on correlated suites of traits - a composite courtship phenotype - and that this integration may be partially responsible for the extreme variation we see in birds-of-paradise.

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