Nature, Nurture, and Noise: Developmental Instability, Fluctuating Asymmetry, and the Causes of Phenotypic Variation

Graham, John H.

doi:10.3390/sym13071204

Cited by 30 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…FA is a simple and often used estimator of the DI of symmetric traits [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 11 ]. Correlation is one of the widely employed measures of FA [ 11 , 12 ], but it measures association, not fluctuation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Likewise, the DI of log-transformed traits partitions into noise:

and

(Equations (5)–(8)). Such partitioning highlights a distinction between the commonly discussed manifestations of the DI: the canalization (between-individual variability) and FA (inter-individual variability) [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Canalization corresponds to the “extrinsic” and FA to the “intrinsic” components of the DI.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, but not interchangeably, DI could be expressed through between-individual variations in a phenotypic trait. The buffering of phenotypic fluctuation against environmental and genetic perturbations across individuals is also known as canalization [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. FA and canalization could also be thought of as “intrinsic” and “extrinsic” variability, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mother–Fetus Immune Cross-Talk Coordinates “Extrinsic”/“Intrinsic” Embryo Gene Expression Noise and Growth Stability

Babochkina

Gerlinskaya

Anisimova

et al. 2022

IJMS

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Developmental instability (DI) is thought to be inversely related to a capacity of an organism to buffer its development against random genetic and environmental perturbations. DI is represented by a trait’s inter- and intra-individual variabilities. The inter-individual variability (inversely referred to as canalization) indicates the capability of organisms to reproduce a trait from individual to individual. The intra-individual variability reflects an organism’s capability to stabilize a trait internally under the same conditions, and, for symmetric traits, it is expressed as fluctuating asymmetry (FA). When representing a trait as a random variable conditioned on environmental fluctuations, it is clear that, in statistical terms, the DI partitions into “extrinsic” (canalization) and “intrinsic” (FA) components of a trait’s variance/noise. We established a simple statistical framework to dissect both parts of a symmetric trait variance/noise using a PCA (principal component analysis) projection of the left/right measurements on eigenvectors followed by GAMLSS (generalized additive models for location scale and shape) modeling of eigenvalues. The first eigenvalue represents “extrinsic” and the second—“intrinsic” DI components. We applied this framework to investigate the impact of mother–fetus major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-mediated immune cross-talk on gene expression noise and developmental stability. We showed that “intrinsic” gene noise for the entire transcriptional landscape could be estimated from a small subset of randomly selected genes. Using a diagnostic set of genes, we found that allogeneic MHC combinations tended to decrease “extrinsic” and “intrinsic” gene noise in C57BL/6J embryos developing in the surrogate NOD-SCID and BALB/c mothers. The “intrinsic” gene noise was negatively correlated with growth (embryonic mass) and the levels of placental growth factor (PLGF), but not vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). However, it was positively associated with phenotypic growth instability and noise in PLGF. In mammals, the mother–fetus MHC interaction plays a significant role in development, contributing to the fitness of the offspring. Our results demonstrate that a positive impact of distant MHC combinations on embryonic growth could be mediated by the reduction of “intrinsic” gene noise followed by the developmental stabilization of growth.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Likewise, the DI of log-transformed traits partitions into noise:

and

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Mother–Fetus Immune Cross-Talk Coordinates “Extrinsic”/“Intrinsic” Embryo Gene Expression Noise and Growth Stability

Babochkina

Gerlinskaya

Anisimova

et al. 2022

IJMS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Nonetheless, the question remains as to the extent to which each of the genetic and environmental factors could be implicated in the development of laterality. Genetic factors reflect the genetic variation among individuals in a population, whereas non-genetic factors include environmental variations such as maternal effects, ontogenetic variation, and randomness (Graham, 2021). In their meta-analysis, Searleman et al (1989) found that birth stressors and handedness are very weakly associated and accounted for less than 1% of the variances.…”

Section: Thesis Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of laterality: Asymmetrical human behaviors and perceptual biases

Hamaoui¹

2022

Preprint

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Many asymmetries characterize human functioning at the behavioral level, such as handedness (right-handedness, left-handedness, mixed-handedness) and the cerebral level. Atypical laterality is frequently mentioned in scientific literature as part of the clinical picture of several neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. Thus, understanding the neurodevelopmental mechanisms underlying laterality could shed light on the etiology of cognitive and motor difficulties. The goal of this thesis is twofold. Firstly, the theoretical objective was to investigate the involvement of the prenatal environment in the development of handedness. The influence of the vestibular system, fetal presentation, and other perinatal factors related to pregnancy complications and birth stressors were tested. Our results show no influence of the fetal presentation on the subsequent development of handedness. Perinatal adversities such as prematurity, low birthweight, and poor neonatal health reflected by very low Apgar scores however, appear to be risk factors which increase the prevalence of atypical handedness and motor impairments. Secondly, the applied objective was to simultaneously detect the different perceptual biases implicated in graphomotor productions. A 3D-2D transcription graphic task was proposed for identifying global patterns of drawing asymmetries, underpinned by cerebral lateralization, biomechanical constraints, and sociocultural influences. Our results suggest that cerebral lateralization, modulated by handedness and sex, influence graphomotor asymmetries in both children and adults. However, this influence is weaker in adults, which could be due to sociocultural influences.

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“…This ability and its consequences are considered to have a fundamental role in the survival and/or reproduction of the individual and, therefore, to be an important part of fitness (Clarke, 1995). For decades, one of the most common measurements of DS has been the intra‐individual variability of paired bilateral traits, also known as fluctuating asymmetry (FA; Graham, 2021a; Palmer & Strobeck, 1992). The main argument for using FA is that since the sides of symmetrical organisms develop under identical genotypes and environments, the differences between them are mainly due to developmental noise (DN) or stochastic variation occurring during development (Hallgrímsson et al, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formal models for the study of the relationship between fluctuating asymmetry and fitness in humans

Farrera

2022

American Journal of Biological Anthropology

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Objectives To evaluate three of the main verbal models that have been proposed to explain the relationship between fluctuating asymmetry and fitness in humans: the “good genes,” the “good development,” and the “growth” hypotheses. Materials and Methods A formal model was generated for each verbal model following three steps. First, based on the literature, a theoretical causal model and the theoretical object of inquiry were outlined. Second, an empirical causal model and the targets of inference were defined using observational data of facial asymmetries and life‐history traits related to fitness. Third, generalized linear models and causal inference were used as the estimation strategy. Results The results suggest that the theoretical and empirical assumptions of the “good genes” hypothesis should be reformulated. The results were compatible with most of the empirical assumptions of “the good development” hypothesis but suggest that further discussion of its theoretical assumptions is needed. The results were less informative about the “growth” hypothesis, both theoretically and empirically. There was a positive association between facial fluctuating asymmetry and the number of offspring that was not compatible with any of the empirical causal models evaluated. Conclusions Although the three hypotheses focus on different aspects of the link between asymmetry and fitness, their overlap opens the possibility of a unified theory on the subject. The results of this study make explicit which assumptions need to be updated and discussed, facilitating the advancement of this area of research. Overall, this study elucidates the potential benefit of using formal models for theory revision and development.

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Nature, Nurture, and Noise: Developmental Instability, Fluctuating Asymmetry, and the Causes of Phenotypic Variation

Cited by 30 publications

References 65 publications

Mother–Fetus Immune Cross-Talk Coordinates “Extrinsic”/“Intrinsic” Embryo Gene Expression Noise and Growth Stability

Mother–Fetus Immune Cross-Talk Coordinates “Extrinsic”/“Intrinsic” Embryo Gene Expression Noise and Growth Stability

Development of laterality: Asymmetrical human behaviors and perceptual biases

Formal models for the study of the relationship between fluctuating asymmetry and fitness in humans

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