Does resource availability help determine the evolutionary route to multicellularity?

Hamant, Olivier and Bhat, Ramray and Nanjundiah, Vidyanand and Newman, Stuart A (2019) Does resource availability help determine the evolutionary route to multicellularity? In: EVOLUTION & DEVELOPMENT, 21 (3). pp. 115-119.

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Abstract

Genetic heterogeneity and homogeneity are associated with distinct sets of adaptive advantages and bottlenecks, both in developmental biology and population genetics. Whereas populations of individuals are usually genetically heterogeneous, most multicellular metazoans are genetically homogeneous. Observing that resource scarcity fuels genetic heterogeneity in populations, we propose that monoclonal development is compatible with the resource-rich and stable internal environments that complex multicellular bodies offer. In turn, polyclonal development persists in tumors and in certain metazoans, both exhibiting a closer dependence on external resources. This eco-evo-devo approach also suggests that multicellularity may originally have emerged through polyclonal development in early metazoans, because of their reduced shielding from environmental fluctuations.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	EVOLUTION & DEVELOPMENT
Publisher:	WILEY
Additional Information:	copyright for this article belongs to WILEY
Keywords:	ecology; genetic heterogeneity; multicellularity
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Molecular Reproduction, Development & Genetics
Date Deposited:	24 Jul 2019 06:14
Last Modified:	24 Jul 2019 06:14
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/62883

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