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Cryptic genetic variation is enriched for potential adaptations.

Joanna Masel1

  • 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA. masel@u.arizona.edu

Genetics
|January 3, 2006
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Cryptic genetic variation, shielded from selection, can be enriched with beneficial mutations. This hidden variation offers a powerful source of evolutionary adaptations, especially during environmental changes.

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Cryptic genetic variation accumulates under relaxed selection.
  • Weakened selection can also lead to deleterious alleles, potentially masking adaptive ones.
  • Understanding cryptic variation's role in evolution is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To model how partially shielded genetic variation is enriched for potential adaptations.
  • To investigate the conditions under which cryptic variation serves as a source of evolutionary innovation.
  • To compare the adaptive potential of cryptic variation versus non-hidden variation.

Main Methods:

  • Modeling genetic variation partially shielded from selection.
  • Assuming deleterious variation is more strongly detrimental than potentially adaptive variation.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Analyzing parameter ranges applicable to biological systems like yeast prions.

    • Main Results:

    • Cryptic genetic variation is substantially enriched for potential adaptations across many realistic parameters.
    • Enrichment is significantly stronger when multiple simultaneous genetic changes are needed for adaptation.
    • This effect is observed in systems like yeast prion [PSI+] alternative splicing.

    Conclusions:

    • Cryptic genetic variation can be a rich source of adaptive alleles.
    • Environmental change can reveal and utilize this hidden variation for evolutionary innovation.
    • Partially shielded variation is a more effective source of adaptation than unshielded variation.