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Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli
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Structuring evolution: biochemical networks and metabolic diversification in birds.

Erin S Morrison1, Alexander V Badyaev2

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Evolutionary predictability is linked to biochemical network structure. Carotenoid network connectivity in birds predicts phenotypic diversification, showing significant structural determinism in evolution.

Keywords:
Metabolic pathwaysNetwork structurePhenotypic diversity

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Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Systems Biology

Background:

  • Evolutionary recurrence and predictability may stem from genomic-phenotypic correspondence and network connectivity.
  • Studying the link between network-embedded diversification opportunities and realized diversity is challenging due to evolutionary modifications of networks and phenotypes.
  • This study compares the global carotenoid enzymatic network with evolutionary diversification patterns in avian carotenoid-producing metabolic networks.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between the structure of the global carotenoid network and phenotypic diversification in birds.
  • To determine if enzymatic connectivity predicts evolutionary patterns in carotenoid metabolism.
  • To assess the influence of evolutionary history on carotenoid network utilization in avian evolution.

Main Methods:

  • Constructed a global enzymatic network of naturally occurring carotenoids.
  • Analyzed carotenoid metabolic networks across 250 avian species.
  • Correlated enzymatic connectivity with patterns of phenotypic diversification and compound frequency.

Main Results:

  • Phenotypic diversification in avian carotenoid networks strongly correlated with enzymatic connectivity.
  • Highly connected compounds were most frequent and served as hotspots for metabolic pathway diversification.
  • No evidence of diversification along metabolic pathways, suggesting limited historical influence on global carotenoid network utilization.

Conclusions:

  • Phenotypic evolution in carotenoid networks is qualitatively predictable from the underlying enzymatic network's connectivity.
  • This predictability indicates substantial structural determinism in phenotypic evolution.
  • Avian carotenoid network evolution is shaped more by biochemical constraints than historical contingency.