Genomics of Developmental Plasticity in Animals

Developmental plasticity refers to the property by which the same genotype produces distinct phenotypes depending on the environmental conditions under which development takes place. By allowing organisms to produce phenotypes adjusted to the conditions that adults will experience, developmental pla...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in genetics 2019, Vol.10, p.720-720
Main Authors: Lafuente, Elvira, Beldade, Patrícia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
developmental plasticity
Environmental Sciences
environmentally responsive genes
Genetics
genomics of plasticity
plasticity variation
reaction norms
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Summary:Developmental plasticity refers to the property by which the same genotype produces distinct phenotypes depending on the environmental conditions under which development takes place. By allowing organisms to produce phenotypes adjusted to the conditions that adults will experience, developmental plasticity can provide the means to cope with environmental heterogeneity. Developmental plasticity can be adaptive and its evolution can be shaped by natural selection. It has also been suggested that developmental plasticity can facilitate adaptation and promote diversification. Here, we summarize current knowledge on the evolution of plasticity and on the impact of plasticity on adaptive evolution, and we identify recent advances and important open questions about the genomics of developmental plasticity in animals. We give special attention to studies using transcriptomics to identify genes whose expression changes across developmental environments and studies using genetic mapping to identify loci that contribute to variation in plasticity and can fuel its evolution.
ISSN:1664-8021
1664-8021
DOI:10.3389/fgene.2019.00720