From Developmental Constraint to Evolvability: How Concepts Figure in Explanation and Disciplinary Identity

Brigandt, Ingo

doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9412-1_14

Cited by 73 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 61 publications

(75 reference statements)

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“…From the broad perspective of developmental biology, the concept of evolvability (1) focuses on the generation of novel phenotypes (i.e., a potential), whereas the concept of developmental constraints (32) refers to restrictions on the production of certain phenotypes (i.e., a limitation) (33). Independent of the context, both evolvability and developmental constraints describe the available novelties.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of gene circuits shapes evolvability

Jiménez

Cotterell

Munteanu

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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To what extent does the dynamical mechanism producing a specific biological phenotype bias the ability to evolve into novel phenotypes? We use the interpretation of a morphogen gradient into a single stripe of gene expression as a model phenotype. Although there are thousands of three-gene circuit topologies that can robustly develop a stripe of gene expression, the vast majority of these circuits use one of just six fundamentally different dynamical mechanisms. Here we explore the potential for gene circuits that use each of these six mechanisms to evolve novel phenotypes such as multiple stripes, inverted stripes, and gradients of gene expression. Through a comprehensive and systematic analysis, we find that circuits that use alternative mechanisms differ in the likelihood of reaching novel phenotypes through mutation. We characterize the phenotypic transitions and identify key ingredients of the evolutionary potential, such as sensitive interactions and phenotypic hubs. Finally, we provide an intuitive understanding on how the modular design of a particular mechanism favors the access to novel phenotypes. Our work illustrates how the dynamical mechanism by which an organism develops constrains how it can evolve. It is striking that these dynamical mechanisms and their impact on evolvability can be observed even for such an apparently simple patterning task, performed by just three-node circuits.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of gene circuits shapes evolvability

Jiménez

Cotterell

Munteanu

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…In the 1980s, with the rise of molecular biology and the explanatory project of adaptationism, the concept of ‗developmental constraints' was understood -negatively‖ as the observable limits of molecular variation and selective optimisation within populations (Brigandt 2015b). In contrast to the insistence on the ability of natural selection to explain the shape of any morphological form as one causally carved from extrinsic, adaptive forces, morphologists and developmental biologists became increasingly interested in the apparent intrinsic -resistance to change‖ that certain morphologies, such as homologues and body plans, seemed to exhibit over evolutionary timescales, and the corresponding -forbidden‖ areas of morphospace that remained unoccupied in existing phylogenies (see the chapter on -Developmental Constraints‖).…”

Section: From Constraints To Variational Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dispositional Properties in Evo-Devo

Austin

Rosa

2018

Evolutionary Developmental Biology

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In identifying intrinsic molecular chance and extrinsic adaptive pressures as the only causally relevant factors in the process of evolution, the theoretical perspective of the Modern Synthesis had a major impact on the perceived tenability of an ontology of dispositional properties. However, since the late 1970s, an increasing number of evolutionary biologists have challenged the descriptive and explanatory adequacy of this -chance alone, extrinsic only‖ understanding of evolutionary change. Because morphological studies of homology, convergence, and teratology have revealed a space of possible forms and phylogenetic trajectories that is considerably more restricted than expected, evo-devo has focused on the causal contribution of intrinsic developmental processes to the course of evolution. Evo-devo's investigation into the developmental structure of the modality of morphology -including both the possibility and impossibility of organismal form -has led to the utilisation of a number of dispositional concepts that emphasise the tendency of the evolutionary process to change along certain routes. In this sense, and in contrast to the perspective of the Modern Synthesis, evo-devo can be described as a -science of dispositions.‖ This chapter discusses the recent philosophical literature on dispositional properties in evo-devo, exploring debates about both the metaphysical and epistemological aspects of the central dispositional concepts utilised in contemporary evo-devo (e.g., variability, modularity, robustness, plasticity, and evolvability) and addressing the epistemological question of how dispositional properties challenge existing explanatory models in evolutionary biology.

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“…Another related issue that evo-devo attempts to explain is morphological evolvability (Brigandt 2015;Hendrikse et al 2007). Evolvability is the ability of biological systems to evolve, and a core aspect of morphological evolvability is the generation of heritable phenotypic variation on which natural selection can subsequently act (Gerhart and Kirschner 2003;Kirschner and Gerhart 1998).…”

Section: Evolutionary Developmental Biology: Integrative and Diversementioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary Developmental Biology and the Limits of Philosophical Accounts of Mechanistic Explanation

Brigandt

2015

History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences

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Evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) is considered a 'mechanistic science,' in that it causally explains morphological evolution in terms of changes in developmental mechanisms. Evo-devo is also an interdisciplinary and integrative approach, as its explanations use contributions from many fields and pertain to different levels of organismal organization. Philosophical accounts of mechanistic explanation are currently highly prominent, and have been particularly able to capture the integrative nature of multifield and multilevel explanations. However, I argue that evo-devo demonstrates the need for a broadened philosophical conception of mechanisms and mechanistic explanation.Mechanistic explanation (in terms of the qualitative interactions of the structural parts of a whole) has been developed as an alternative to the traditional idea of explanation as derivation from laws or quantitative principles. Against the picture promoted by Carl Craver, that mathematical models describe but usually do not explain, my discussion of cases from the strand of evo-devo which is concerned with developmental processes points to qualitative phenomena where quantitative mathematical models are an indispensable part of the explanation. While philosophical accounts have focused on the actual organization and operation of mechanisms, properties of developmental mechanisms that are about how a mechanism reacts to modifications are of major evolutionary significance, including robustness, phenotypic plasticity, and modularity. A philosophical conception of mechanisms is needed that takes into account quantitative changes, transient entities and the generation of novel types of entities, feedback loops and complex interaction networks, emergent properties, and, in particular, functional-dynamical aspects of mechanisms, including functional (as opposed to structural) organization and distributed, system-wide phenomena. I conclude with general remarks on philosophical accounts of explanation.

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From Developmental Constraint to Evolvability: How Concepts Figure in Explanation and Disciplinary Identity

Cited by 73 publications

References 61 publications

Dynamics of gene circuits shapes evolvability

Dynamics of gene circuits shapes evolvability

Dispositional Properties in Evo-Devo

Evolutionary Developmental Biology and the Limits of Philosophical Accounts of Mechanistic Explanation

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