Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Background and Environment Affect Phenotype02:27

Background and Environment Affect Phenotype

7.8K
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...
7.8K
Multiple Allele Traits01:49

Multiple Allele Traits

38.3K
The Concept of Multiple Allelism
38.3K
Pleiotropy01:33

Pleiotropy

43.4K
Pleiotropy is the phenomenon in which a single gene impacts multiple, seemingly unrelated phenotypic traits. For example, defects in the SOX10 gene cause Waardenburg Syndrome Type 4, or WS4, which can cause defects in pigmentation, hearing impairments, and an absence of intestinal contractions necessary for elimination. This diversity of phenotypes results from the expression pattern of SOX10 in early embryonic and fetal development. SOX10 is found in neural crest cells that form melanocytes,...
43.4K
Evolutionary Psychology01:20

Evolutionary Psychology

1.1K
Evolutionary psychology explores the origins of human behavior and mental processes by framing them within the context of natural selection, a theory famously propounded by Charles Darwin. This field asserts that many behaviors common across human societies — ranging from instinctive fear reactions to complex social interactions — arose as evolutionary adaptations. These adaptations enhanced the survival and reproductive success of our ancestors, thereby becoming embedded in the...
1.1K
Genetic Variation01:25

Genetic Variation

1.4K
Genetic variation is the diversity in DNA sequences found among individuals of the same species. This diversity is crucial for a species' survival because it helps organisms adapt to environmental changes. Genetic variation begins with fertilization, where an egg and sperm cell merge. Each of these cells carries 23 chromosomes, up to 46 in the fertilized egg. Chromosomes are long DNA strands that contain genes, the basic units of heredity.
Genes exist in different versions called alleles,...
1.4K
Heritability01:06

Heritability

677
Heritability is a statistical concept that measures the degree to which genetic differences among individuals contribute to trait variations within a population. It is a fundamental idea in genetics, often prone to misinterpretation. Heritability is expressed as a percentage, reflecting the proportion of variation in a specific trait across a population that can be linked to genetic differences. However, it's important to understand that heritability does not determine how "genetic"...
677

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Comprehensive analysis based on tertiary lymphoid structures and tumor budding predicts survival rates in colorectal cancer patients with synchronous liver metastases.

Frontiers in immunology·2026
Same author

An interpretable machine learning model for predicting NICU admission in preterm infants: a single-center retrospective cohort study.

Translational pediatrics·2026
Same author

Spontaneous mutation rate and spectrum are modulated by organismal fitness.

Science advances·2026
Same author

Reprogramming NF-κB signaling in cervical cancer: Implications for immune microenvironment and therapeutic resistance.

Biochemical and biophysical research communications·2026
Same author

General, orders-of-magnitude faster whole-genome analysis with genotype representation graphs.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Transcript diversity reflects deleterious RNA processing errors shaped by population size in metazoans.

PLoS biology·2026
Same journal

Chromosome-scale genome assemblies of duckweeds provide insights into genomic plasticity, aquatic adaptation and morphological reduction.

Genome biology and evolution·2026
Same journal

Towards a functional genetics of adaptation: insights from microbial experimental evolution.

Genome biology and evolution·2026
Same journal

Evidence for cryptic sex in Escovopsis, a mycoparasite in the fungus-growing ant symbiosis.

Genome biology and evolution·2026
Same journal

Experimental evolution under biased sex ratios: phenotypic and genomic responses in the bulb mite, Rhizoglyphus robini.

Genome biology and evolution·2026
Same journal

Optimal organelle inheritance strategies under different changing environments and mutational pressures.

Genome biology and evolution·2026
Same journal

A reassessment of positive growth effects of expressed random sequence clones in E. coli suggests direct adaptive functions.

Genome biology and evolution·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 17, 2026

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations
04:52

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations

Published on: February 3, 2023

1.4K

Why Phenotype Robustness Promotes Phenotype Evolvability.

Xinzhu Wei1, Jianzhi Zhang1

  • 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan.

Genome Biology and Evolution
|December 12, 2017
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Phenotype robustness (PR) mathematically promotes phenotype evolvability (PE) across genotype-phenotype maps (GPMs). Simulations confirm this mathematical link, suggesting the observed correlation is not solely biological.

Keywords:
evolutiongenotype–phenotype mapneutral networktranscription factor binding sequences

More Related Videos

Quantifying Abdominal Pigmentation in Drosophila melanogaster
08:41

Quantifying Abdominal Pigmentation in Drosophila melanogaster

Published on: June 1, 2017

9.5K
Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli
15:00

Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli

Published on: August 18, 2023

4.4K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Feb 17, 2026

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations
04:52

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations

Published on: February 3, 2023

1.4K
Quantifying Abdominal Pigmentation in Drosophila melanogaster
08:41

Quantifying Abdominal Pigmentation in Drosophila melanogaster

Published on: June 1, 2017

9.5K
Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli
15:00

Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli

Published on: August 18, 2023

4.4K

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Systems biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Robustness and evolvability are key life characteristics.
  • Previous studies suggested phenotype robustness (PR) promotes phenotype evolvability (PE), but the mechanism was unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To mathematically elucidate the relationship between PR and PE.
  • To determine if the PR-PE correlation is mathematical or biological.

Main Methods:

  • Developed mathematical models for random genotype-phenotype maps (GPMs).
  • Conducted population genetic simulations using empirical and rewired GPMs.

Main Results:

  • Demonstrated that expected PE is a monotonically increasing function of expected PR in random GPMs.
  • Simulations confirmed that increased PR enhances the probability of a target phenotype appearing in a population.
  • The positive correlation between PR and PE was shown to be mathematical.

Conclusions:

  • The observed positive correlation between phenotype robustness and phenotype evolvability is fundamentally mathematical.
  • This mathematical basis explains why the correlation is consistently observed across various empirical GPMs.
  • Biological factors may influence the magnitude of this correlation but do not solely determine its existence.