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The flexible stem hypothesis: evidence from genetic data.

Jean-Michel Gibert¹

¹Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris 06, CNRS, Biologie du Développement Paris Seine, Institut de Biologie Paris Seine (LBD-IBPS), 75005, Paris, France. jean-michl.gibert@upmc.fr.

Development Genes and Evolution

|August 7, 2017

Summary

Phenotypic plasticity allows genotypes to adapt to environments, potentially driving evolution. The flexible stem hypothesis suggests plastic ancestors can lead to new species, with genes mediating both trait plasticity and evolution.

Keywords:

Evolution Gene expression Phenotypic plasticity Review

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Genetics

Background:

Phenotypic plasticity enables genotypes to produce varied phenotypes under different environmental conditions.
It is hypothesized to facilitate evolutionary processes, including the origin of new lineages via genetic assimilation.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the genetic mechanisms underlying phenotypic plasticity and its role in evolution.
To examine the relationship between genes involved in plasticity and trait evolution.

Main Methods:

Literature review of studies on genetic mechanisms of phenotypic plasticity.
Analysis of examples showing gene involvement in both plasticity and evolutionary divergence.
Investigation of cis-regulatory variation and chromatin/hormonal modifications.

Main Results:

The same genes often exhibit transcriptional plasticity and expression divergence, linking plasticity to trait evolution.
Cis-regulatory variations in these genes, sometimes within environmentally responsive sequences, underlie these changes.
Phenotypic plasticity can be "canalized" (stabilized) through chromatin or hormonal pathway modifications.

Conclusions:

Findings support the "flexible stem hypothesis", where ancestral plasticity fuels lineage divergence.
The evolution of plasticity and the evolution of traits are interconnected, often involving the same genetic loci.
Further research is needed to generalize these findings across diverse systems.