Work

Adaptive noise

Year: 2013

Type: review

Abstract: In biology, noise implies error and disorder and is therefore something which organisms may seek to minimize and mitigate against. We argue that such noise can be adaptive. Recent studies have shown that gene expression can be noisy, noise can be genetically controlled, genes and gene networks vary in how noisy they are and noise generates phenotypic differences among genetically identical cells. Such phenotypic differences can have fitness benefits, suggesting that evolution can shape noise and that noise may be adaptive. For example, gene networks can generate bistable states resulting in phenotypic diversity and switching among individual cells of a genotype, which may be a bet hedging strategy. Here, we review the sources of noise in gene expression, the extent to which noise in biological systems may be adaptive and suggest that applying evolutionary rigour to the study of noise is necessary to fully understand organismal phenotypes.

Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.1104

Authors: Mark Viney, Sarah E. Reece

Institutions: University of Bristol, Centre for Immunity, Infection and Evolution, University of Edinburgh

Language: English

Topic: Gene Regulatory Network Analysis

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: Wellcome Trust, Natural Environment Research Council

Awards: Understanding phenotypic plasticity in the reproductive strategies of malaria parasites ., The molecular basis of parasitism in the nematode Strongyloides ratti., Evolution and ecology of phenotypic plasticity in parasite life history strategies, Centre for Immunity, Infection and Evolution.