Non-heritable yet evolvable: increased developmental noise can be selected for despite average negative effect
Petak, Csenge
Petak, Csenge
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Abstract
The effect of certain genetic variants is that they influence the distribution of phenotypic variation that is generated. We used a simple model to investigate the fate of mutations that influence noise during development. We find that the specific phenotypic variation generated need not be heritable for the ability to generate a wider range of phenotypes to spread through indirect selection in the population. Moreover, an allele increasing developmental noise can reach fixation even when most (but not all) random variation is disadvantageous and thus on average the allele has a negative effect on fitness.
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Graduate
Date
2024-01-01