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Rapid Development of Cell State Identification Circuits with Poly-Transfection
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Published on: February 24, 2023

How a neutral evolutionary ratchet can build cellular complexity.

Julius Lukeš1, John M Archibald, Patrick J Keeling

  • 1Biology Centre, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, and Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, České Budĕjovice (Budweis), Czech Republic.

IUBMB Life
|June 24, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Complex cellular machines may evolve through constructive neutral evolution (CNE), a process where components become interdependent without positive selection. This unidirectional evolutionary path explains the origin of biological complexity.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Molecular biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Complex cellular machinery is typically attributed to stepwise selective advantage.
  • Evolutionary biologists focus on explaining complexity through selection.
  • Alternative mechanisms for the evolution of complexity are being explored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose and describe constructive neutral evolution (CNE) as an alternative mechanism for the evolution of cellular complexity.
  • To explain how complex cellular machines can arise without positive selection.
  • To challenge traditional adaptationist narratives in evolutionary biology.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual framework development based on "presuppression."
  • Analysis of how mutations can lead to interdependencies between cellular components.
  • Modeling the unidirectional nature of evolutionary dependence.

Main Results:

  • Constructive neutral evolution (CNE) provides a mechanism for complexity arising from non-adaptive, neutral processes.
  • Mutational dependence between cellular components leads to an irreversible increase in complexity.
  • CNE can explain the evolution of seemingly uneconomical cellular functions like RNA editing and splicing.

Conclusions:

  • Constructive neutral evolution offers a plausible, less forced explanation for the origin of cellular and organismal complexity.
  • CNE challenges the universal applicability of selectionist explanations for all complex biological features.
  • This mechanism contributes to understanding the evolution of fundamental cellular machines such as the ribosome.