Abstract
Pleiotropy, the involvement of a gene in development and variation of multiple traits, is a concept considerable appreciation in developmentally as well as statistically oriented fields of evolutionary biology. Here I argue that this feature makes pleiotropy a particularly suitable guiding topic for connecting the two branches of evolutionary biology, and integrate evolutionary descriptions from the molecular, over developmental, to populational mechanisms. I first describe some of the challenges in defining pleiotropy, and then focus on evolution of pleiotropic constraints, which I suggest is the centerpiece of the connection. Finally, I address some of the future challenges.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Cheverud JM (1988) A comparison of genetic and phenotypic correlations. Evol Int J Organ Evol 42:958–968
Cheverud JM (2007) The dangers of diagonalization. J Evol Biol 20:15–16; discussion: 39–44
Falconer DS (1952) The problem of environment and selection. Am Nat 86:293–298
Fisher RA (1930) The genetical theory of natural selection. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Hansen TF (2003) Is modularity necessary for evolvability? Remarks on the relationship between pleiotropy and evolvability. Biosystems 69:83–94
Hansen TF, Armbruster WS, Carlson ML, Pelabon EC (2003) Evolvability and genetic constraint in Dalechampia blossoms: genetic correlations and conditional evolvability. J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol 296(1):23–39
Johnson NA, Porter AH (2007) Evolution of branched regulatory genetic pathways: directional selection on pleiotropic loci accelerates developmental system drift. Genetica 129:57–70
Lande R (1979) Quantitative genetic analysis of multivariate evolution, applied to brain: body size allometry. Evol Int J Organ Evol 33:402–416
Leamy LJ, Pomp D, Lightfoot JT (2009) Genetic variation in the pleiotropic association between physical activity and body weight in mice. Genet Sel Evol 41:41
Lenski RE (1988) Experimental studies of pleiotropy and epistasis in Escherichia coli. II. Compensation for maladaptive effects associated with resistance to virus T4. Evolution 42:433–440
Marroig G, Cheverud JM (2001) A comparison of phenotypic variation and covariation patterns and the role of phylogeny, ecology, and ontogeny during cranial evolution of new world monkeys. Evol Int J Organ Evol 55:2576–2600
Mezey JG, Cheverud JM, Wagner GP (2000) Is the genotype-phenotype map modular? A statistical approach using mouse quantitative trait loci data. Genetics 156:305–311
Orr HA (2000) Adaptation and the cost of complexity. Evol Int J Organ Evol 54:13–20
Pavlicev M, Cheverud JM (2015) Constraints evolve: context dependency of genetic effects allows evolution of pleiotropy. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 46:413–434
Pavlicev M, Wagner GP (2012) A model of developmental evolution: selection, pleiotropy and compensation. Trends Ecol Evol 27:316–322
Pavlicev M, Kenney-Hunt JP, Norgard EA, Roseman CC, Wolf JB, Cheverud JM (2008) Genetic variation in pleiotropy: differential epistasis as a source of variation in the allometric relationship between long bone lengths and body weight. Evol Int J Organ Evol 62:199–213
Pavlicev M, Cheverud JM, Wagner GP (2011) Evolution of adaptive phenotypic variation patterns by direct selection for evolvability. Proceed Biol Sci/R Soc 278:1903–1912
Sanger TJ, Mahler DL, Abzhanov A, Losos JB (2012) Roles for modularity and constraint in the evolution of cranial diversity among Anolis lizards. Evol Int J Organ Evol 66:1525–1542
Schluter D (1996) Adaptive radiation along genetic lines of least resistance. Evol Int J Organ Evol 50:1766–1774
Stearns FW (2010) One hundred years of pleiotropy: a retrospective. Genetics 186:767–773
Stern DL, Orgogozo V (2008) The loci of evolution: how predictable is genetic evolution? Evolution Int J Organ Evol 62:2155–2177
Su Z, Zeng Y, Gu X (2010) A preliminary analysis of gene pleiotropy estimated from protein sequences. J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol 314:115–122
True JR, Haag ES (2001) Developmental system drift and flexibility in evolutionary trajectories. Evol Dev 3:109–119
Turelli M (1985) Effects of pleiotropy on predictions concerning mutation-selection balance for polygenic traits. Genetics 111:165–195
Wagner GP, Kenney-Hunt JP, Pavlicev M, Peck JR, Waxman D, Cheverud JM (2008) Pleiotropic scaling of gene effects and the ‘cost of complexity’. Nature 452:470–472
Wang Z, Liao BY, Zhang J (2010) Genomic patterns of pleiotropy and the evolution of complexity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 107:18034–18039
Watson RA, Wagner GP, Pavlicev M, Weinreich DM, Mills R (2014) The evolution of phenotypic correlations and “developmental memory”. Evol Int J Organ Evol 68:1124–1138
Williams GC (1957) Pleiotropy, natural selection, and the evolution of senescence. Evol Int J Organ Evol 11:398–411
Young NM, Wagner GP, Hallgrimsson B (2010) Development and the evolvability of human limbs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 107:3400–3405
Zhang J, Wagner GP (2013) On the definition and measurement of pleiotropy. Trends Genet 29:383–384
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Pavličev, M. (2021). Pleiotropy and Its Evolution: Connecting Evo-Devo and Population Genetics. In: Nuño de la Rosa, L., Müller, G.B. (eds) Evolutionary Developmental Biology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32979-6_52
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32979-6_52
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-32977-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-32979-6
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences