Year: 2003
Type: review
Abstract: Robustness is the invariance of phenotypes in the face of perturbation. The robustness of phenotypes appears at various levels of biological organization, including gene expression, protein folding, metabolic flux, physiological homeostasis, development, and even organismal fitness. The mechanisms underlying robustness are diverse, ranging from thermodynamic stability at the RNA and protein level to behavior at the organismal level. Phenotypes can be robust either against heritable perturbations (e.g., mutations) or nonheritable perturbations (e.g., the weather). Here we primarily focus on the first kind of robustness--genetic robustness--and survey three growing avenues of research: (1) measuring genetic robustness in nature and in the laboratory; (2) understanding the evolution of genetic robustness: and (3) exploring the implications of genetic robustness for future evolution.
Source: Evolution
Authors: J. Arjan G. M. Visser, Joachim Hermisson, Günter P. Wagner, Lauren Ancel Meyers, Homayoun Bagheri‐Chaichian, Jeffrey L. Blanchard, Lin Chao, James M. Cheverud, Santiago F. Elena, Walter Fontana, Greg Gibson, Thomas F. Hansen, David Krakauer, Richard C. Lewontin, Charles Ofria, Sean H. Rice, George von Dassow, Andreas Wagner, Michael C. Whitlock
Institutions: Wageningen University & Research, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Yale University, The University of Texas at Austin, Santa Fe Institute, National Center for Genome Resources, University of California San Diego, Washington University in St. Louis, Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, North Carolina State University, Florida State University, Harvard University, Michigan State University, University of Washington, Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of New Mexico, University of British Columbia
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2168338628