Does evolutionary theory need a rethink?

Laland, Kevin N.; Uller, Tobias; Feldman, M. W.; Sterelny, Kim; Müller, Gerd B.; Moczek, Armin P.; Jablonka, Eva; Odling‐Smee, John; Wray, Gregory A.; Hoekstra, Hopi E.; Futuyma, Douglas J.; Lenski, Richard E.; Mackay, Trudy F. C.; Schluter, Dolph; Strassmann, Joan E.

doi:10.1038/514161a

Cited by 829 publications

(668 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(17 reference statements)

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“…The idea that epigenetic mechanisms can contribute to population differentiation as a source of heritable phenotypic variation has been challenged in recent literature (Laland et al., 2014; Wibowo et al., 2016). However, DNA methylation has been posited as a mechanism of phenotypic plasticity as well as a marker of stress response, and a number of studies have found a relationship between epigenetic variation and environment in support of this hypothesis (Herman & Sultan, 2016; Jablonka & Raz, 2009; Verhoeven, Jansen, et al., 2010; Verhoeven, Van Dijk, et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic and epigenetic variation in Spartina alterniflora following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Robertson

Schrey

Shayter

et al. 2017

Evolutionary Applications

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Catastrophic events offer unique opportunities to study rapid population response to stress in natural settings. In concert with genetic variation, epigenetic mechanisms may allow populations to persist through severe environmental challenges. In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill devastated large portions of the coastline along the Gulf of Mexico. However, the foundational salt marsh grass, Spartina alterniflora, showed high resilience to this strong environmental disturbance. Following the spill, we simultaneously examined the genetic and epigenetic structure of recovering populations of S. alterniflora to oil exposure. We quantified genetic and DNA methylation variation using amplified fragment length polymorphism and methylation sensitive fragment length polymorphism (MS‐AFLP) to test the hypothesis that response to oil exposure in S. alterniflora resulted in genetically and epigenetically based population differentiation. We found high genetic and epigenetic variation within and among sites and found significant genetic differentiation between contaminated and uncontaminated sites, which may reflect nonrandom mortality in response to oil exposure. Additionally, despite a lack of genomewide patterns in DNA methylation between contaminated and uncontaminated sites, we found five MS‐AFLP loci (12% of polymorphic MS‐AFLP loci) that were correlated with oil exposure. Overall, our findings support genetically based differentiation correlated with exposure to the oil spill in this system, but also suggest a potential role for epigenetic mechanisms in population differentiation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic and epigenetic variation in Spartina alterniflora following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Robertson

Schrey

Shayter

et al. 2017

Evolutionary Applications

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“…We label this interpretation the 'extended evolutionary synthesis' (EES) but emphasize, contrary to some recent claims (e.g. [10]), that the EES is a developing line of contemporary evolutionary thought that exists within the field, and not a denial of the value of past frameworks or of progress in evolutionary biology. To some readers, the use of the EES label might appear grandiloquent but, as we will show, the significance of the proposed changes in evolutionary thinking varies substantially with the researcher's perspective.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Nevertheless, our analysis suggests that the EES is more than simply an extension of 'business as usual' science: it requires conceptual change [15]. The additional evolutionary processes that the EES highlights are more than just nonessential 'add-ons' [10] and may be as important in shaping evolution as those recognized within the field over the past century. Consequently, the requisite changes are non-trivial.…”

Section: Novel Predictions Made and New Research Stimulated By The mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To some readers, the use of the EES label might appear grandiloquent but, as we will show, the significance of the proposed changes in evolutionary thinking varies substantially with the researcher's perspective. While the suggestion that an EES is emerging has been made repeatedly [11][12][13][14][15], its nature and role have remained unclear. As a result, the various lobbies for change within evolutionary biology have been regarded as largely unconnected, or idiosyncratic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The extended evolutionary synthesis: its structure, assumptions and predictions

et al. 2015

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Scientific activities take place within the structured sets of ideas and assumptions that define a field and its practices. The conceptual framework of evolutionary biology emerged with the Modern Synthesis in the early twentieth century and has since expanded into a highly successful research program to explore the processes of diversification and adaptation. Nonetheless, the ability of that framework satisfactorily to accommodate the rapid advances in developmental biology, genomics and ecology has been questioned. We review some of these arguments, focusing on literatures (evo-devo, developmental plasticity, inclusive inheritance and niche construction) whose implications for evolution can be interpreted in two ways-one that preserves the internal structure of contemporary evolutionary theory and one that points towards an alternative conceptual framework. The latter, which we label the 'extended evolutionary synthesis' (EES), retains the fundaments of evolutionary theory, but differs in its emphasis on the role of constructive processes in development and evolution, and reciprocal portrayals of causation. In the EES, developmental processes, operating through developmental bias, inclusive inheritance and niche construction, share responsibility for the direction and rate of evolution, the origin of character variation and organism-environment complementarity. We spell out the structure, core assumptions and novel predictions of the EES, and show how it can be deployed to stimulate and advance research in those fields that study or use evolutionary biology.

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“…Along these lines, Gray and Druker noted that "individual breast cancers typically carry a few consistent and functionally characterized abnormalities, along with tens to thousands of other changes that are rare or unique to the individual tumor and about which little is known." 32 Following from the "gene-centric" view commonly associated with SET, 33 we could think of this fitness advantage as intrinsic properties of the cell, like the ability to survive in a nutrient poor environment, an inability to respond to cues that initiate programmed cell death, or a cell proliferation program that is stuck in the "on" state. We collectively know a lot about how these intrinsic properties change in cancer cells, as embodied in the hallmarks of cancer.…”

Section: Cancer As a Process Of Somatic Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eavesdropping on altered cell-to-cell signaling in cancer by secretome profiling

Klinke

2015

Molecular & Cellular Oncology

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In the past decade, cumulative clinical experiences with molecular targeted therapies and immunotherapies for cancer have promoted a shift in our conceptual understanding of cancer. This view shifted from viewing solid tumors as a homogeneous mass of malignant cells to viewing tumors as heterogeneous structures that are dynamically shaped by intercellular interactions among the variety of stromal, immune, and malignant cells present within the tumor microenvironment. As in any dynamic system, identifying how cells communicate to maintain homeostasis and how this communication is altered during oncogenesis are key hurdles for developing therapies to restore normal tissue homeostasis. Here, I discuss tissues as dynamic systems, using the mammary gland as an example, and the evolutionary concepts applied to oncogenesis. Drawing from these concepts, I present 2 competing hypotheses for how intercellular communication might be altered during oncogenesis. As an initial test of these competing hypotheses, a recent secretome comparison between normal human mammary and HER2C breast cancer cell lines suggested that the particular proteins secreted by the malignant cells reflect a convergent evolutionary path associated with oncogenesis in a specific anatomical niche, despite arising in different individuals. Overall, this study illustrates the emerging power of secretome proteomics to probe, in an unbiased way, how intercellular communication changes during oncogenesis.

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Does evolutionary theory need a rethink?

Cited by 829 publications

References 16 publications

Genetic and epigenetic variation in Spartina alterniflora following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Genetic and epigenetic variation in Spartina alterniflora following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

The extended evolutionary synthesis: its structure, assumptions and predictions

Eavesdropping on altered cell-to-cell signaling in cancer by secretome profiling

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