Evolutionary design of regulatory control. II. Robust error-correcting feedback increases genetic and phenotypic...

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary biology
• Systems biology
• Control theory

Background:

• Robust systems can tolerate component sloppiness, reducing natural selection pressure on components.
• This leads to component decay and the evolution of cheaper, lower-performing parts.
• A general theory for the evolutionary dynamics of system robustness and component decay is lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a general theory for the evolutionary dynamics of system robustness and component decay.
• To link engineering control theory with genetic theory for evolutionary dynamics.
• To explain the paradox of robustness leading to component decay.

Main Methods:

• Integrated engineering control theory principles (error-correcting feedback) with genetic evolutionary dynamics.
• Developed a theoretical framework for analyzing the evolution of robust biological systems.
• Examined the impact of regulatory control architectures on component variability.

Main Results:

• Robust systems accumulate greater genetic variability and phenotypic stochasticity in components.
• Variability differs across regulatory control architectures and components within a system.
• Increased robustness reduces system failures (disease) but increases disease heritability.

Conclusions:

• Robust error correction in biological systems drives component decay and increased genetic variability.
• This framework explains the high heritability observed in diseases and fitness.
• Provides a unifying approach for evolutionary analysis of robust biological systems.