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The Evidence for Evolution

The Evidence for Evolution

Genetic variations accumulating within populations over generations give rise to biological evolution. Evolutionary changes can result in the formation of novel varieties and entire new species. These changes are responsible for the diverse forms of life inhabiting the planet. The evidence for evolution suggests that all living organisms descended from common ancestors.

Multi-species Conserved Sequences

Multi-species Conserved Sequences

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Although the genome of each species varies greatly from each other, a few sequences are highly conserved. Such conserved...

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The genomes of eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of sequence which do not code for proteins or RNAs. Although some of these regions do contain crucial regulatory sequences, the vast majority of this DNA serves no known function. Typically, these regions of the genome are the ones in which the fastest change, in evolutionary terms, is observed, because there is typically little to no selection pressure acting on these regions to preserve their sequences.
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mRNA Stability and Gene Expression

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In a population that is not at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of alleles changes over time. Therefore, any deviations from the five conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium can alter the genetic variation of a given population. Conditions that change the genetic variability of a population include mutations, natural selection, non-random mating, gene flow, and genetic drift (small population size).

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 6, 2025

A Bioinformatics Pipeline for Investigating Molecular Evolution and Gene Expression using RNA-seq

A Bioinformatics Pipeline for Investigating Molecular Evolution and Gene Expression using RNA-seq

Published on: May 28, 2021

Stability in gene expression and body-plan development leads to evolutionary conservation.

Yui Uchida¹, Hiroyuki Takeda², Chikara Furusawa^3,4

¹Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, RIKEN, 6-2-3 Furuedai, Suita, Osaka, 565-0874, Japan. yui.uchida@riken.jp.

|March 15, 2023

Summary

Developmental stability, characterized by consistent phenotypes and gene expression, drives evolutionary conservation. Stable genes and developmental stages exhibit lower diversity across generations, suggesting stability is a key factor in evolutionary stasis.

Keywords:

Canalization Developmental stability Evolutionary conservation Hourglass model Phenotypic evolution Phylotypic period Transcriptome

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Developmental biology
Genetics

Background:

Phenotypic evolution is traditionally explained by selection acting on variation from mutation and environmental noise.
Developmental stability, defined as consistent phenotype and gene expression under specific conditions, has been linked to evolutionary conservation.
The causal role of developmental stability in evolutionary conservation remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To experimentally investigate whether developmental stability causally contributes to evolutionary conservation.
To determine if stable developmental stages and gene expression levels lead to evolutionary conservation.

Main Methods:

Measured gene expression stability and developmental stage stability (whole embryonic transcriptome) in an inbred Japanese medaka (F0 generation).
Assessed evolutionary conservation by crossing F0 medaka with a related line (Teradomori) and performing two rounds of intra-generational crossings (F3 generation).
Compared diversity in the F3 generation to stability measurements in the F0 generation.

Main Results:

Genes and developmental stages exhibiting lower variation (greater stability) in the F0 generation showed reduced diversity in the F3 hybrid generation.
This inverse correlation implies a causal relationship where stability influences evolutionary conservation.
Highly stable developmental stages corresponded to critical body-plan establishment phases.

Conclusions:

Phenotypic stability, encompassing developmental stages and gene expression, directly leads to evolutionary conservation by limiting phenotypic variation.
Developmental stability is a significant contributor to the evolutionary conservation of traits.
The findings suggest developmental stability plays a role in the strict conservation of animal body plans.