Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 5, 2026
08:30
Author Spotlight: Exploring Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms in Fruit Flies — Genetic Models and Behavioral Tests
Published on: September 6, 2024
2.5K
The genetics of phenotypic plasticity. XIII. Interactions with developmental instability
1Division of Environmental Biology, National Science Foundation 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Virginia, 22230.
Ecology and Evolution
|May 17, 2014
Summary
Phenotypic plasticity and developmental instability can evolve together. Their interaction, influenced by genetic linkage, can limit plasticity or favor instability, especially when environmental cues are unreliable.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Developmental biology
- Ecology
Background:
- Natural selection in heterogeneous environments can drive phenotypic plasticity and developmental instability.
- The interplay between these two evolutionary outcomes remains largely unexplored.
- Environmental heterogeneity and individual distribution influence the evolution of plasticity and instability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the joint evolution of phenotypic plasticity and developmental instability.
- To determine how genetic linkage between plasticity and instability affects their evolutionary trajectories.
- To understand the conditions under which plasticity and instability are favored or disfavored.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an individual-based simulation model.
- Explored scenarios with genetically independent and pleiotropically linked loci for plasticity and instability.
- Analyzed the evolutionary dynamics under varying environmental heterogeneity and cue reliability.
Main Results:
- When plasticity and instability were genetically independent, plasticity was not favored as a bet-hedging strategy, and instability was disfavored unless environmental cues were unreliable.
- When plasticity and instability were genetically linked, instability significantly constrained the evolution of plasticity.
- In some cases, selection for instability led to maladaptive plasticity.
Conclusions:
- The genetic architecture linking plasticity and instability is crucial for their co-evolution.
- Developmental instability can limit the adaptive evolution of phenotypic plasticity.
- Understanding the ecological, life history, developmental, and genetic contexts is essential for interpreting patterns of plasticity and instability evolution.
