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Related Concept Videos

Background and Environment Affect Phenotype02:27

Background and Environment Affect Phenotype

Although the genetic makeup of an organism plays a major role in determining the phenotype, there are also several environmental factors, such as temperature, oxygen availability, presence of mutagens, that can alter an organism’s phenotype.
An example of how genetic background affects phenotype can be seen in horses. The Extension gene in horses is responsible for their coat color. A wild-type gene (EE) produces black pigment in the coat, while a mutant gene (ee) produces red pigment. A...
Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

Frequency-dependent Selection

When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.Positive Frequency-Dependent SelectionIn positive...
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...
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Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift

In a population that is not at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of alleles changes over time. Therefore, any deviations from the five conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium can alter the genetic variation of a given population. Conditions that change the genetic variability of a population include mutations, natural selection, non-random mating, gene flow, and genetic drift (small population size).Mechanisms of Genetic VariationThe original sources of genetic variation are mutations,...
Types of Selection01:46

Types of Selection

Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
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Position-effect Variegation

In 1928, a German botanist Emil Heitz observed the moss nuclei with a DNA binding dye. He observed that while some chromatin regions decondense and spread out in the interphase nucleus, others do not. He termed them euchromatin and heterochromatin, respectively. He proposed that the heterochromatin regions reflect a functionally inactive state of the genome. It was later confirmed that heterochromatin is transcriptionally repressed, and euchromatin is transcriptionally active chromatin.

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Methods for Staging Pupal Periods and Measurement of Wing Pigmentation of Drosophila guttifera
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Published on: January 24, 2018

Phenotypic plasticity and diversity in insects.

Armin P Moczek1

  • 1Department of Biology, Indiana University, 915 East Third Street, Myers Hall 150, Bloomington, IN 47405-7107, USA. armin@indiana.edu

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
|January 20, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Phenotypic plasticity, particularly polyphenic development in insects like horned beetles, drives evolutionary novelty and diversification. This process creates new evolutionary pathways and facilitates species diversification.

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A Proboscis Extension Response Protocol for Investigating Behavioral Plasticity in Insects: Application to Basic, Biomedical, and Agricultural Research

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary developmental biology
  • Insect evolutionary biology
  • Ecology and evolution

Background:

  • Phenotypic plasticity and polyphenic development are crucial for organismal diversification and evolutionary innovation.
  • Insect evolutionary developmental biology, particularly in horned beetles, provides a model for studying these processes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore how phenotypic plasticity and polyphenic development mediate the origins of novelty and diversity in insects.
  • To investigate the role of phenotypic plasticity in generating novel evolutionary targets and trade-offs.
  • To examine the relationship between gene expression modularity, plasticity, and mutation accumulation.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative analysis of phenotypic plasticity in insect development.
  • Evolutionary developmental biology approaches focusing on gene expression and modularity.
  • Theoretical modeling of evolutionary trajectories and diversification.

Main Results:

  • Phenotypic plasticity generates novel targets for evolution and creates developmental trade-offs, diversifying evolutionary trajectories.
  • Modularity in gene expression underlies phenotypic plasticity, leading to a trade-off between plasticity extent and mutation accumulation.
  • Genes expressed in rare environments accumulate more variation, promoting faster divergence and speciation.

Conclusions:

  • Phenotypic plasticity is a significant driver of organismal diversification across multiple biological levels.
  • It facilitates the evolution of novel traits, new species, and complex life cycles.
  • Understanding plasticity mechanisms is key to comprehending evolutionary innovation.