Sexual reproduction selects for robustness and negative epistasis in artificial gene networks
Sexual reproduction selects for robustness and negative epistasis in artificial gene networks
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DOI：
10.1038/nature04488
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发表时间：
2006-03-02
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Burch, CL
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Azevedo, RBR;Lohaus, R;Burch, CL
有性生殖起源和维持的突变确定性假说认为，在重组将有害突变组合成单个基因组后，性增强了自然选择清除有害突变的能力(1)。这种解释需要负上位性，这是一种基因相互作用，其中突变的组合比它们各自的影响预期的更有害。突变决定论假说的概念吸引力已经被我们无法确定负上位的机制和进化基础所抵消。在这里，我们表明负上位可以进化为有性生殖本身的结果。使用人工基因网络模型（2,3），我们发现基因网络之间的重组为遗传稳健性施加了选择，而负上位性是这种选择的副产品。我们的研究结果表明，有性生殖会选择有利于自身维持的条件，这是进化形成自己道路的一个例子。
The mutational deterministic hypothesis for the origin and maintenance of sexual reproduction posits that sex enhances the ability of natural selection to purge deleterious mutations after recombination brings them together into single genomes(1). This explanation requires negative epistasis, a type of genetic interaction where mutations are more harmful in combination than expected from their separate effects. The conceptual appeal of the mutational deterministic hypothesis has been offset by our inability to identify the mechanistic and evolutionary bases of negative epistasis. Here we show that negative epistasis can evolve as a consequence of sexual reproduction itself. Using an artificial gene network model(2,3), we find that recombination between gene networks imposes selection for genetic robustness, and that negative epistasis evolves as a by-product of this selection. Our results suggest that sexual reproduction selects for conditions that favour its own maintenance, a case of evolution forging its own path.