The Genetics and Epigenetics of Anticipatory Adaptation

Abstract

AbstractAccording to Darwin, a species adapts to the environment by variation and natural selection. During their lifetime, organisms adapt to changing environments by phenotypic plasticity. Based on an internal predictive model, organisms can anticipate future environments and preadapt accordingly. Alternatively, they may hedge their bets by random phenotypic variation. Predictive models, phenotypic plasticity and bet hedging are genetic traits. While gene-regulatory networks have a primary role in bringing the phenotype into being, chromatin modifications, which are often referred to as epigenetic changes, affect the local kinetics of gene expression. They stabilize cellular states and are rarely transmitted to offspring.KeywordsAdaptationAnticipationGeneticsEpigeneticsPhenotypicPlasticityBet hedging