The population genetics of biological noise
Le 29 Novembre 2024
11h30 Grande salle de réunion du Cefe
Daniel M Weinreich
Daniel M Weinreich
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Access to campus (register before 11 on SEEM day): https://duo.dr13.cnrs.fr/public/evenement/index
Link to seminar: https://umontpellier-fr.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dzIq_toaRX-mp8n95DLb9A
Noise is intrinsic to information transmission, and information transmission is intrinsic to life. Critically however, while biological noise is random, its amount in any organism is in part genetically determined. In this talk, we explore the population genetic fate of alleles that heritably influence the amount of biological noise in their carrier. We argue from first principles that biological noise is a double-edged sword: almost always deleterious but also occasionally yielding high fitness phenotypes. We suggest that this in turn implies the existence of an equilibrium amount of noise, at which the advantage of producing additional, rare beneficial phenotypes is exactly balanced by the cost of producing the vastly more common deleterious phenotypes. The location of this equilibrium in any species will reflect the rate at which its environment is changing, the heritability of realized noise, the model of selection, and population size. Our framework subsumes modifier theory sensu Altenberg, Feldman and others, and resolves teleological criticisms of the hypothesis that evolvability can evolve. Finally, it has implications for understanding how natural selection can simultaneously operate on multiple levels of population organization.
Watch previous seminars on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrX4IsZ8WIFcDa0ZmC7rcQg
Contact:
Ignacio Bravo (<UMR MIVEGEC) ignacio.bravo@cnrs.fr & Luis-Miguel Chevin (UMR CEFE) luis-miguel.chevin@cefe.cnrs.fr
