How did the complex metabolic systems we observe today evolve through adaptive evolution? The fitness landscape is the theoretical framework to answer this question. Since experimental data on natural fitness landscapes is scarce, computational models are a valuable tool to predict landscape topologies and evolutionary trajectories. Careful assumptions about the genetic and phenotypic features of the system under study can simplify the design of such models significantly. The analysis of C4 photosynthesis evolution provides an example for accurate predictions based on the phenotypic fitness landscape of a complex metabolic trait. The C4 pathway evolved multiple times from the ancestral C3 pathway and models predict a smooth 'Mount Fuji' landscape accordingly. The modelled phenotypic landscape implies evolutionary trajectories that agree with data on modern intermediate species, indicating that evolution can be predicted based on the phenotypic fitness landscape. Future directions will have to include structural changes of metabolic fitness landscape structure with changing environments. This will not only answer important evolutionary questions about reversibility of metabolic traits, but also suggest strategies to increase crop yields by engineering the C4 pathway into C3 plants.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1042/BST20150148 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Discovering genetic modulators of the protein homeostasis system through multilevel analysis.
PNAS Nexus
January 2025
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01002, USA.
Every protein progresses through a natural lifecycle from birth to maturation to death; this process is coordinated by the protein homeostasis system. Environmental or physiological conditions trigger pathways that maintain the homeostasis of the proteome. An open question is how these pathways are modulated to respond to the many stresses that an organism encounters during its lifetime.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFemale athletes: a state-of-the-art review of multiorgan influence of exercise training.
J Sports Med Phys Fitness
January 2025
Unit of Cardiovascular Sciences, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy.
Endurance sports have witnessed an increase in female participation, demanding a constant and evolving reassessment of the specific physiological and health implications of female athletes. In the present review, we analyze cardiovascular, hematological adaptations and anthropometry and hormonal fluctuations highlighting sex-specific differences in response to exercise, with estrogen playing a fundamental role in modulating body composition and metabolic processes. Nutritional aspects, in particular energy availability, macronutrient distribution and hydration, are fundamental in supporting training demands and menstrual function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFShould CAR-T cell therapy be considered a standard of care for patients with refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in second line treatment?
Expert Opin Biol Ther
January 2025
Department of Malignant Hematology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, USA.
Introduction: CAR-T therapy has transformed the treatment landscape for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL).
Areas Covered: This article reviews the existing evidence for using CAR-T therapy as a second-line treatment. Two major phase 3 trials, ZUMA-7 and TRANSFORM, have shown that axi-cel and liso-cel, respectively, offer superior outcomes compared to historical standard chemoimmunotherapy and consolidation with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-HCT).
Selection can favor a recombination landscape that limits polygenic adaptation.
Mol Biol Evol
January 2025
Institut de Biologie, École Normale Supérieure, CNRS UMR 8197, Inserm U1024, PSL Research University, Paris, F-75005, France.
Modifiers of recombination rates have been described but the selective pressures acting on them and their effect on adaptation to novel environments remain unclear. We performed experimental evolution in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans using alternative rec-1 alleles modifying the position of meiotic crossovers along chromosomes without detectable direct fitness effects. We show that adaptation to a novel environment is impaired by the allele that decreases recombination rates in the genomic regions containing fitness variation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFitness landscapes of human microsatellites.
PLoS Genet
December 2024
Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America.
Advances in DNA sequencing technology and computation now enable genome-wide scans for natural selection to be conducted on unprecedented scales. By examining patterns of sequence variation among individuals, biologists are identifying genes and variants that affect fitness. Despite this progress, most population genetic methods for characterizing selection assume that variants mutate in a simple manner and at a low rate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!