The use of fluctuating asymmetry as a measure of environmentally induced developmental instability: A meta-analysis

Beasley, DeAnna E.; Bonisoli‐Alquati, Andrea; Mousseau, Timothy A.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2013.02.024

Cited by 190 publications

(163 citation statements)

References 102 publications

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“…Developmental instability, most frequently detected by measurements of fluctuating asymmetry, has been widely used in environmental studies to examine the effects of anthropogenic and natural stressors (Beasley et al, 2013). It is known that three types of asymmetry exist: directional, fluctuating and antisymmetry, and basically each species requires an examination of the asymmetry type.…”

Section: Fluctuating Asymmetry Indicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of needle morphometric indices in Scots pine in the remote period after the Chernobyl accident

2016

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-Biological effects in Scots pine populations experiencing chronic radiation exposure at doses up to 130 mGy per year as a result of the Chernobyl accident were studied in 2011 and 2013, using needle indices as endpoints. No relationships between the length, the mass of needles and the asymmetry in weight of paired needles and radiation exposure were revealed. The frequency of necrotic needles increases with the level of radiation exposure; however, the significance of these effects in different years was different. The index of fluctuating asymmetry in needle length significantly increases at annual doses of 90 and 130 mGy and correlates with the absorbed dose as well as 137 Cs and 90 Sr radionuclide activities in soils and cones at the study sites. The findings obtained are consistent with an international recommendation to consider radiation exposure of 100 mGy.y −1 as a margin for biota safety in chronic irradiation.

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Section: Fluctuating Asymmetry Indicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of needle morphometric indices in Scots pine in the remote period after the Chernobyl accident

2016

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“…These select references represent a small fraction of the literature on environmental toxicology and fluctuating asymmetry. See Beasley et al [150] for a wide-ranging meta-analysis of anthropogenically-induced asymmetry in animals. Yet we have been unable to find any comparable human studies.…”

Section: Environmental Toxicologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluctuating Asymmetry of Human Populations: A Review

Graham

Özener

2016

Symmetry

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Fluctuating asymmetry, the random deviation from perfect symmetry, is a widely used population-level index of developmental instability, developmental noise, and robustness. It reflects a population's state of adaptation and genomic coadaptation. Here, we review the literature on fluctuating asymmetry of human populations. The most widely used bilateral traits include skeletal, dental, and facial dimensions; dermatoglyphic patterns and ridge counts; and facial shape. Each trait has its advantages and disadvantages, but results are most robust when multiple traits are combined into a composite index of fluctuating asymmetry (CFA). Both environmental (diet, climate, toxins) and genetic (aneuploidy, heterozygosity, inbreeding) stressors have been linked to population-level variation in fluctuating asymmetry. In general, these stressors increase average fluctuating asymmetry. Nevertheless, there have been many conflicting results, in part because (1) fluctuating asymmetry is a weak signal in a sea of noise; and (2) studies of human fluctuating asymmetry have not always followed best practices. The most serious concerns are insensitive asymmetry indices (correlation coefficient and coefficient of indetermination), inappropriate size scaling, unrecognized mixture distributions, inappropriate corrections for directional asymmetry, failure to use composite indices, and inattention to measurement error. Consequently, it is often difficult (or impossible) to compare results across traits, and across studies.

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“…For instance, it is still debated whether there is a connection between heterozygosity and DI [14,15]. Nevertheless, there is evidence that links parasitic infection [16] and environmental pollution [17] with DI.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental age influences developmental stability of the progeny inDrosophila

et al. 2015

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The stochastic nature of biochemical processes is a source of variability that influences developmental stability. Developmental instability (DI) is often estimated through fluctuating asymmetry (FA), a parameter that deals with withinindividual variation in bilateral structures. A relevant goal is to shed light on how environment, physiology and genotype relate to DI, thus providing a more comprehensive view of organismal development. Using Drosophila melanogaster isogenic lines, we investigated the effect of parental age, parental diet and offspring heterozygosity on DI. In this work, we have uncovered a clear relationship between parental age and offspring asymmetry. We show that asymmetry of the progeny increases concomitantly with parental age. Moreover, we demonstrate that enriching the diet of parents mitigates the effect of age on offspring symmetry. We show as well that increasing the heterozygosity of the progeny eliminates the effect of parental age on offspring symmetry. Taken together, our results suggest that diet, genotype and age of the parents interact to determine offspring DI in wild populations. These findings provide us with an avenue to understand the mechanisms underlying DI.

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The use of fluctuating asymmetry as a measure of environmentally induced developmental instability: A meta-analysis

Cited by 190 publications

References 102 publications

Study of needle morphometric indices in Scots pine in the remote period after the Chernobyl accident

Study of needle morphometric indices in Scots pine in the remote period after the Chernobyl accident

Fluctuating Asymmetry of Human Populations: A Review

Parental age influences developmental stability of the progeny inDrosophila

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