Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Convergent Evolution01:54

Convergent Evolution

Evolution shapes the features of organisms over time, ensuring that they are suited for the environments in which they live. Sometimes, selection pressure leads to the rise of similar but unrelated adaptations in organisms with no recent common ancestors, a process known as convergent evolution.The structures that arise from convergent evolution are called analogous structures. They are similar in function even if they are dissimilar in structure. Further, structures can be analogous while also...
Speciation Rates01:07

Speciation Rates

Speciation can proceed at markedly different rates, and evolutionary biologists commonly describe these differences through the models of gradualism and punctuated equilibrium. Both patterns explain how new species arise, but they differ in the tempo and continuity of evolutionary change. In both cases, evolutionary change arises from heritable variation within populations, with natural selection often shaping traits that improve survival and reproduction under specific environmental conditions.
Genetics of Speciation02:16

Genetics of Speciation

Speciation is the evolutionary process resulting in the formation of new, distinct species—groups of reproductively isolated populations.The genetics of speciation involves the different traits or isolating mechanisms preventing gene exchange, leading to reproductive isolation. Reproductive isolation can be due to reproductive barriers that have effects either before or after the formation of a zygote. Pre-zygotic mechanisms prevent fertilization from occurring, and post-zygotic mechanisms...
Gene Flow02:39

Gene Flow

Gene flow is the transfer of genes among populations, resulting from either the dispersal of gametes or from the migration of individuals.
Evolution of New Traits in Microbes01:24

Evolution of New Traits in Microbes

Microorganisms evolve rapidly due to their large population sizes and short generation times, often exhibiting measurable changes within days under laboratory conditions. Natural selection acts on standing genetic variation, enabling the retention and amplification of beneficial traits that confer fitness advantages in changing environments.Adaptive Pigment Regulation in RhodobacterIn Rhodobacter, a genus of purple non-sulfur bacteria, light-harvesting pigments such as bacteriochlorophyll and...
Genetic Drift03:33

Genetic Drift

Natural selection—probably the most well-known evolutionary mechanism—increases the prevalence of traits that enhance survival and reproduction. However, evolution does not merely propagate favorable traits, nor does it always benefit populations.Life is not fair. A deer grazing contentedly in a field can have her meal cut tragically short by a bolt of lightning. If the doomed doe is one of only three in the population, 1/3 of the population’s gene pool is lost. Random events like this can...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Engineering resilient gene drives for sustainable malaria control by predicting, testing and overcoming target site resistance in Anopheles gambiae.

PLoS biology·2026
Same author

Biocoatings with Enhanced Bacterial Viability via Coagulant Dipping and Wet Sintering by Immersion.

ACS applied materials & interfaces·2026
Same author

Simple models for the trapping of charged particles and macromolecules by diffusiophoresis in salt gradients.

Physical review. E·2026
Same author

Progressive chromosome shape changes during cell divisions.

EMBO reports·2025
Same author

Salt solutions with two or more salts generate ion currents analogous to magnetic field lines.

Physical review. E·2025
Same author

Estimating the population-level effects of nonpharmaceutical interventions when transmission rates of COVID-19 vary by orders of magnitude from one contact to another.

Physical review. E·2025
Same journal

In This Issue.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Long-term cultural continuity across the Neanderthal-modern human sequence at Üçağızlı II Cave, northern Levant.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Dolphins use names to remember whom to avoid.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Retraction for Shaked and Frenkel, Curiouser and curiouser: Meningeal lymphoid structures in the aging brain.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Small but mighty: The outsized role of small water bodies in the global carbon cycle.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Functional traits produce conditional outcomes in different community contexts.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations
04:52

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations

Published on: February 3, 2023

Statistical mechanics of convergent evolution in spatial patterning.

Bhavin S Khatri1, Tom C B McLeish, Richard P Sear

  • 1Department of Physics, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, United Kingdom. bhavin.khatri@physics.org

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|June 6, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Convergent evolution in gene regulation is complex. Large populations can lead to conserved traits that are evolutionary accidents, not functional adaptations.

More Related Videos

Quantifying Spatiotemporal Parameters of Cellular Exocytosis in Micropatterned Cells
10:21

Quantifying Spatiotemporal Parameters of Cellular Exocytosis in Micropatterned Cells

Published on: September 16, 2020

Mapping the Emergent Spatial Organization of Mammalian Cells using Micropatterns and Quantitative Imaging
09:56

Mapping the Emergent Spatial Organization of Mammalian Cells using Micropatterns and Quantitative Imaging

Published on: April 30, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations
04:52

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations

Published on: February 3, 2023

Quantifying Spatiotemporal Parameters of Cellular Exocytosis in Micropatterned Cells
10:21

Quantifying Spatiotemporal Parameters of Cellular Exocytosis in Micropatterned Cells

Published on: September 16, 2020

Mapping the Emergent Spatial Organization of Mammalian Cells using Micropatterns and Quantitative Imaging
09:56

Mapping the Emergent Spatial Organization of Mammalian Cells using Micropatterns and Quantitative Imaging

Published on: April 30, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Systems Biology

Background:

  • Understanding the genotype-phenotype map is crucial for explaining evolutionary patterns.
  • Spatial gene regulation during development presents a complex system for studying evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore how the genotype-phenotype map influences convergent evolution in spatial gene regulation.
  • To investigate the impact of population size on evolutionary behavior and trait conservation.

Main Methods:

  • Simulated evolution using a Monte Carlo scheme incorporating mutation, selection, and genetic drift.
  • Employed a bottom-up model of gene regulation with a fitness function based on morphogen gradient response.
  • Analyzed the emergent fitness landscape and the concept of 'free fitness' (balance of mutational entropy and fitness).

Main Results:

  • The genotype-phenotype map creates a complex emergent fitness landscape even in simple regulatory systems.
  • Population size influences evolutionary outcomes, mirroring thermodynamic phase transitions.
  • At low population sizes, suboptimal phenotypes can arise due to multiple solutions; at high sizes, optimal phenotypes dominate.
  • Large populations show convergence on fitness-critical phenotypes, while non-critical ones diverge due to landscape roughness.

Conclusions:

  • Convergent evolution is shaped by the complexity of the genotype-phenotype map and population dynamics.
  • Large population sizes can lead to 'glassy-like' evolution, where conserved traits may be non-functional 'frozen accidents'.
  • This challenges the view that conserved phenotypes always imply functional significance.