Evolutionary constraints in variable environments, from proteins to networks.
Environmental changes can not only trigger a regulatory response, but also impose evolutionary pressures that can modify the underlying regulatory network. Here, we review recent approaches that are beginning to disentangle this complex interplay between regulatory and evolutionary responses. Systematic genetic reconstructions have shown how evolutionary constraints arise from epistatic interactions between mutations in fixed environments. This approach is now being extended to more complex environments and systems. The first results suggest that epistasis is affected dramatically by environmental changes and, hence, can profoundly affect the course of evolution. Thus, external environments not only define the selection of favored phenotypes, but also affect the internal constraints that can limit the evolution of these phenotypes. These findings also raise new questions relating to the conditions for evolutionary transitions and the evolutionary potential of regulatory networks.
FOM Institute AMOLF, Science Park 104, 1098 XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Katja M
KM
Taute
FOM Institute AMOLF, Science Park 104, 1098 XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Sebastian
S
Gude
FOM Institute AMOLF, Science Park 104, 1098 XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Philippe
P
Nghe
FOM Institute AMOLF, Science Park 104, 1098 XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: tans@amolf.nl.
Sander J
SJ
Tans
D000818:Animals; D004777:Environment; D004843:Epistasis, Genetic; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D006801:Humans; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
D011506:Proteins
epistasis; evolution; genetic interactions; regulatory networks; variable environments