Asymmetric Evolvability Leads to Specialization without Trade-Offs.

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary biology
• Theoretical ecology

Background:

• Organism specialization is often attributed to trade-offs, limiting performance across multiple environments.
• However, empirical evidence for trade-offs as the sole driver of specialization is limited.
• Theoretical models suggest specialization can emerge without trade-offs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how emergent asymmetries in evolvability can drive specialization in the absence of explicit trade-offs.
• To explore the role of relaxed selection in generalists for rare environments.
• To demonstrate how adaptation to common environments can interfere with adaptation to rare environments.

Main Methods:

• Synthesizing theoretical approaches to evolvability.
• Developing and extending theoretical models.
• Utilizing computer simulations to model adaptive processes.

Main Results:

• Emergent asymmetries in evolvability can lead to population specialization even with ecological costs.
• Adaptation to a common environment interferes with adaptation to a less common environment.
• Low recombination rates exacerbate this interference, potentially trapping populations in suboptimal niches.

Conclusions:

• Specialization can arise from asymmetries in evolvability, not solely from trade-offs.
• Interference between adaptations to different environments, especially at low recombination, has long-term consequences.
• Transient differences in trait evolvability can shape a population's long-term niche.