Individual selection leads to collective efficiency through coordination

Social interactions involving coordination between individuals are subject to an “evolutionary trap.” Once a suboptimal strategy has evolved, mutants playing an alternative strategy are counterselected because they fail to coordinate with the majority. This creates a detrimental situation from which evolution cannot escape, preventing the evolution of efficient collective behaviours. Here, we study this problem using the framework of evolutionary robotics. We first confirm the existence of an evolutionary trap in a simple setting. We then, however, reveal that evolution can solve this problem in a more realistic setting where individuals need to coordinate with one another. In this setting, robots evolve an ability to adapt plastically their behaviour to one another, as this improves the efficiency of their interaction. This ability has an unintended evolutionary consequence: a genetic mutation affecting one individual’s behaviour also indirectly alters their partner’s behaviour because the two individuals influence one another. As a consequence of this indirect genetic effect, pairs of partners can virtually change strategy together with a single mutation, and the evolutionary barrier between alternative strategies disappears. This finding reveals a general principle that could play a role in nature to smoothen the transition to efficient collective behaviours in all games with multiple equilibriums.

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Sickle Cell Trait and Renal Function in Hispanics in the United States: the Northern Manhattan Study

Ethnicity & Disease ◽

10.18865/ed.27.1.11 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 11 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Nicole D. Dueker ◽

David Della-Morte ◽

Tatjana Rundek ◽

Ralph L. Sacco ◽

Susan H. Blanton

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Chronic Kidney Disease ◽

African Americans ◽

Kidney Disease ◽

Sickle Cell ◽

Sickle Cell Trait ◽

The United States ◽

Genetic Mutation ◽

Single Mutation ◽

Increased Risk

Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is a common hematological disorder among individuals of African descent in the United States; the disorder results in the production of abnormal hemoglobin. It is caused by homozygosity for a genetic mutation in HBB; rs334. While the presence of a single mutation (sickle cell trait, SCT) has long been considered a benign trait, recent research suggests that SCT is associated with renal dysfunction, including a decrease in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and increased risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in African Americans. It is currently unknown whether similar associations are observed in Hispanics. Therefore, our study aimed to determine if SCT is associated with mean eGFR and CKD in a sample of 340 Dominican Hispanics from the Northern Manhattan Study. Using regression analyses, we tested rs334 for association with eGFR and CKD, adjusting for age and sex. eGFR was estimated using the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation and CKD was defined as eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2. Within our sample, there were 16 individuals with SCT (SCT carriers). We found that SCT carriers had a mean eGFR that was 12.12 mL/min/1.73m2 lower than non-carriers (P=.002). Additionally, SCT carriers had 2.72 times higher odds of CKD compared with non-carriers (P=.09). Taken together, these novel results show that Hispanics with SCT, as found among African Americans with SCT, may also be at increased risk for kidney disease.Ethn Dis. 2017; 27(1):11-14; doi:10.18865/ed.27.1.11.

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Social cues and ideology

Politics and the Life Sciences ◽

10.1017/pls.2017.29 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. 32-52 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jordan Mansell

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Social Change ◽

Social Interactions ◽

Social Values ◽

Social Attitudes ◽

Social Cues ◽

Social Partner ◽

Biological Factors ◽

Alternative Strategies ◽

Democrats And Republicans

Research shows that individuals with liberal and conservative ideological orientations display different value positions concerning the acceptance of social change and inequality. Research also links the expression of different values to a number of biological factors, including heredity. In light of these biological influences, I investigate whether differences in social values associated with liberal and conservative ideologies reflect alternative strategies to maximize returns from social interactions. Using an American sample of Democrats and Republicans, I test whether information about shared and unshared social values in the form of implicit social attitudes have a disproportionate effect on the willingness of Democrats and Republicans to trust an anonymous social partner. I find evidence that knowledge of shared values significantly increases levels of trust among Democrats but not Republicans. I further find that knowledge of unshared values significantly decreases trust among Republicans but not Democrats. These findings are consistent with studies indicating that differences in ideological orientation are linked to differences in cognition and decision-making.

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The Price equation as a bridge between animal breeding and evolutionary biology

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2019.0360 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 375 (1797) ◽

pp. 20190360 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

P. Bijma

Keyword(s):

Evolutionary Biology ◽

Genetic Effect ◽

Price Equation ◽

Response To Selection ◽

Theme Issue ◽

Heritable Variation ◽

Indirect Genetic Effect ◽

Trait Distribution ◽

The Social ◽

Genetic Standard Deviation

The genetic response to selection is central to both evolutionary biology and animal and plant breeding. While Price's theorem (PT) is well-known in evolutionary biology, most breeders are unaware of it. Rather than using PT, breeders express response to selection as the product of the intensity of selection ( i ), the accuracy of selection ( ρ ) and the additive genetic standard deviation ( σ A ); R = iρσ A . In contrast to the univariate ‘breeder's equation’, this expression holds for multivariate selection on Gaussian traits. Here, I relate R = iρσ A to PT, and present a generalized version, R = i w ρ A , w σ A , valid irrespective of the trait distribution. Next, I consider genotype–environment covariance in relation to the breeder's equation and PT, showing that the breeder's equation may remain valid depending on whether the genotype–environment covariance works across generations. Finally, I consider the response to selection in the prevalence of an endemic infectious disease, as an example of an emergent trait. The result shows that disease prevalence has much greater heritable variation than currently believed. The example also illustrates that the indirect genetic effect approach moves elements of response to selection from the second to the first term of PT, so that changes acting via the social environment come within the reach of quantitative genetics. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Fifty years of the Price equation’.

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Heritable spouse effects increase evolutionary potential of human reproductive timing

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2017.2763 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 285 (1876) ◽

pp. 20172763

Author(s):

Simon R. Evans ◽

Dominique Waldvogel ◽

Nina Vasiljevic ◽

Erik Postma

Keyword(s):

Life Histories ◽

Genetic Effect ◽

Age At First Birth ◽

Reproductive Timing ◽

Evolutionary Potential ◽

Heritable Variation ◽

Indirect Genetic Effect ◽

Component Traits ◽

Human Reproductive ◽

Female Specific

Sexual reproduction is inherently interactive, especially in animal species such as humans that exhibit extended pair bonding. Yet we have little knowledge of the role of male characteristics and their evolutionary impact on reproductive behavioural phenotypes, to the extent that biologists typically consider component traits (e.g. reproductive timing) as female-specific. Based on extensive genealogical data detailing the life histories of 6435 human mothers born across four centuries of modern history, we use an animal modelling approach to estimate the indirect genetic effect of men on the reproductive phenotype of their partners. These analyses show that a woman's reproductive timing (age at first birth) is influenced by her partner's genotype. This indirect genetic effect is positively correlated with the direct genetic effect expressed in women, such that total heritable variance in this trait is doubled when heritable partner effects are considered. Our study thus suggests that much of the heritable variation in women's reproductive timing is mediated via partner effects, and that the evolutionary potential of this trait is far greater than previously appreciated.

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Explaining the genetic causality for complex diseases via deep association kernel learning

10.1101/2019.12.17.879866 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Feng Bao ◽

Yue Deng ◽

Mulong Du ◽

Zhiquan Ren ◽

Sen Wan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genome Wide Association Study ◽

Rare Variants ◽

Genetic Effect ◽

Complex Diseases ◽

Genetic Mutation ◽

Genetic Effects ◽

Kernel Learning ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Biological Studies ◽

Different Types

ABSTRACTThe genetic effect explains the causality from genetic mutation to the development of complex diseases. Existing genome-wide association study (GWAS) approaches are always built under a linear assumption, restricting their generalization in dissecting complicated causality such as the recessive genetic effect. Therefore, a sophisticated and general GWAS model that can work with different types of genetic effects is highly desired. Here, we introduce a Deep Association Kernel learning (DAK) model to enable automatic causal genotype encoding for GWAS at pathway level. DAK can detect both common and rare variants with complicated genetic effects that existing approaches fail. When applied to real-world GWAS data, our approach discovered potential casual pathways that could be explained by alternative biological studies.

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Sibling rivalry versus mother's curse: can kin competition facilitate a response to selection on male mitochondria?

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2020.0575 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 287 (1930) ◽

pp. 20200575 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Thomas A. Keaney ◽

Heidi W. S. Wong ◽

Damian K. Dowling ◽

Therésa M. Jones ◽

Luke Holman

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Dna ◽

Kin Selection ◽

Nuclear Dna ◽

Genetic Effect ◽

Adult Survival ◽

Direct Selection ◽

Mitochondrial Haplotype ◽

Social Partner ◽

Mtdna Mutations ◽

Indirect Genetic Effect

Assuming that fathers never transmit mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to their offspring, mitochondrial mutations that affect male fitness are invisible to direct selection on males, leading to an accumulation of male-harming alleles in the mitochondrial genome (mother's curse). However, male phenotypes encoded by mtDNA can still undergo adaptation via kin selection provided that males interact with females carrying related mtDNA, such as their sisters. Here, using experiments with Drosophila melanogaster carrying standardized nuclear DNA but distinct mitochondrial DNA, we test whether the mitochondrial haplotype carried by interacting pairs of larvae affects survival to adulthood, as well as the fitness of the adults. Although mtDNA had no detectable direct or indirect genetic effect on larva-to-adult survival, the fitness of male and female adults was significantly affected by their own mtDNA and the mtDNA carried by their social partner in the larval stage. Thus, mtDNA mutations that alter the effect of male larvae on nearby female larvae (which often carry the same mutation, due to kinship) could theoretically respond to kin selection. We discuss the implications of our findings for the evolution of mitochondria and other maternally inherited endosymbionts.

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Parasitoid wasps influence where aphids die via an interspecific indirect genetic effect

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2012.1151 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 20121151 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Mouhammad Shadi Khudr ◽

Johan A. Oldekop ◽

David M. Shuker ◽

Richard F. Preziosi

Keyword(s):

Genetic Variation ◽

Acyrthosiphon Pisum ◽

Genetic Effect ◽

Parasitoid Wasp ◽

Aphidius Ervi ◽

Interacting Species ◽

Indirect Genetic Effect ◽

Host Parasite ◽

Aphid Host ◽

Behavioural Manipulation

Host–parasite interactions are a key paradigm for understanding the process of coevolution. Central to coevolution is how genetic variation in interacting species allows parasites to evolve manipulative strategies. However, genetic variation in the parasite may also be associated with host phenotype changes, thereby changing the selection on both species. For instance, parasites often induce changes in the behaviour of their host to maximize their own fitness, yet the quantitative genetic basis for behavioural manipulation has not been fully demonstrated. Here, we show that the genotype of the parasitoid wasp Aphidius ervi has a significant effect on where its aphid host Acyrthosiphon pisum moves to die following parasitism, including the likelihood that the aphid abandons the plant. These results provide a clear example of an interspecific indirect genetic effect whereby the genetics of one species influences the expression of a specific behavioural trait in another.

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Correlated evolution of maternally derived yolk testosterone and early developmental traits in passerine birds

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2005.0346 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 1 (4) ◽

pp. 461-464 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

K.B Gorman ◽

T.D Williams

Keyword(s):

Maternal Effects ◽

Genetic Effect ◽

Passerine Birds ◽

Independent Contrasts ◽

Correlated Evolution ◽

Indirect Genetic Effect ◽

Associated Species ◽

Developmental Traits ◽

Early Developmental ◽

Yolk Testosterone

Recent studies on hormone-mediated maternal effects in birds have highlighted the influence of variable maternal yolk androgen concentration on offspring phenotype, particularly in terms of early development. If genetic differences between laying females regulate variation in yolk hormone concentration, then this physiological maternal effect is an indirect genetic effect which can provide a basis for the co-evolution of maternal and offspring phenotypes. Thus, we investigated the evolutionary associations between maternally derived yolk testosterone (T) and early developmental traits in passerine birds via a comparative, phylogenetic analysis. Our results from species-correlation and independent contrasts analyses provide convergent evidence for the correlated evolution of maternal yolk T concentration and length of the prenatal developmental period in passerines. Here, we show these traits are significantly negatively associated (species-correlation: p <0.001, r 2 =0.85; independent contrasts: p =0.005). Our results highlight the need for more studies investigating the role of yolk hormones in evolutionary processes concerning maternal effects.

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