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Hormones, developmental plasticity, and adaptive evolution: Endocrine flexibility as a catalyst for
1Biological Sciences Department, Center for Coastal Marine Sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93407, USA.
Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology
|December 13, 2019
Summary
Hormones mediate developmental plasticity, allowing populations to adapt to new environments through
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Endocrinology
- Developmental biology
Background:
- Natural selection drives adaptation through heritable variation.
- Developmental plasticity, or environmentally induced phenotypic variation, may also facilitate adaptation.
- Hormones are key regulators of development and phenotypic expression, mediating plasticity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore how environmentally sensitive endocrine regulation facilitates 'plasticity-first' evolution.
- To examine the role of thyroid hormones in mediating morphological plasticity in pupfish.
- To provide evidence for plasticity preceding genetic assimilation in adaptation.
Main Methods:
- Review of evolutionary theory and endocrine regulation.
- Case study on Cyprinodon pupfish in Death Valley.
- Analysis of morphological diversification in relation to environmental change.
Main Results:
- Endocrine regulation, particularly thyroid hormones, mediates morphological plasticity in response to environmental shifts.
- Pupfish in Death Valley show evidence of contemporary phenotypic differentiation driven by plasticity.
- Plasticity appears to precede genetic assimilation of traits in some populations.
Conclusions:
- Hormone-mediated developmental plasticity can generate adaptive variants, initiating 'plasticity-first' evolution.
- Endocrine systems act as intermediaries between environmental conditions and phenotypic variation.
- Understanding hormonal mechanisms is crucial for explaining adaptation in changing environments.
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