title: Adaptive evolution: evaluating empirical support for theoretical predictions.
abstract: Adaptive evolution is shaped by the interaction of population genetics, natural selection and underlying network and biochemical constraints. Variation created by mutation, the raw material for evolutionary change, is translated into phenotypes by flux through metabolic pathways and by the topography and dynamics of molecular networks. Finally, the retention of genetic variation and the efficacy of selection depend on population genetics and demographic history. Emergent high-throughput experimental methods and sequencing technologies allow us to gather more evidence and to move beyond the theory in different systems and populations. Here we review the extent to which recent evidence supports long-established theoretical principles of adaptation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, BOX 90338, Program in Genetics and Genomics, Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina                 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Carrie F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Olson-Manning
authors.forename: Maggie R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mitchell-Olds
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological / Q000235:genetics*; D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D004843:Epistasis, Genetic; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D051456:Gene Flow; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012641:Selection, Genetic