Population genetics of non-genetic traits: evolutionary roles of stochasticity in gene expression.
The role of stochasticity in evolutionary genetics has long been debated. To date, however, the potential roles of non-genetic traits in evolutionary processes have been largely neglected. In molecular biology, growing evidence suggests that stochasticity in gene expression (SGE) is common and that SGE has major impacts on phenotypes and fitness. Here, we provide a general overview of the potential effects of SGE on population genetic parameters, arguing that SGE can indeed have a profound effect on evolutionary processes. Our analyses suggest that SGE potentially alters the fate of mutations by influencing effective population size and fixation probability. In addition, a genetic control of SGE magnitude could evolve under certain conditions, if the fitness of the less-fit individual increases due to SGE and environmental fluctuation. Although empirical evidence for our arguments is yet to come, methodological developments for precisely measuring SGE in living organisms will further advance our understanding of SGE-driven evolution.
Computational Bioscience Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, 4700 KAUST, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia; Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, N14W9 Kita, Sapporo 060-0814, Japan.
Katsuhiko
K
Mineta
Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, 6-10-1 Hakozaki, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan; Department of Population Genetics, National Institute of Genetics, 1111 Yata, Mishima, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan.
Tomotaka
T
Matsumoto
Department of Population Genetics, National Institute of Genetics, 1111 Yata, Mishima, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan; Department of Genetics, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), 1111 Yata, Mishima, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan.
Naoki
N
Osada
Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, EAWAG, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland; Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, N9W9 Kita, Sapporo 060-8589, Japan. Electronic address: arakih@res.agr.hokudai.ac.jp.
Hitoshi
H
Araki
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D015870:Gene Expression; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006801:Humans; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D013269:Stochastic Processes
Effective population size; Fitness; Gene expression; Selection; Stochasticity