Movatterモバイル変換

[0]ホーム
URL:

Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Advertisement

Nature Reviews Genetics
  • Review Article
  • Published:

Contributions of genomics to life-history theory

Nature Reviews Geneticsvolume 8, pages116–125 (2007)Cite this article

Key Points

  • Life-history theory seeks to understand how evolutionary factors have shaped variation in life-history traits, both within and among organisms.

  • Life-history traits include such traits as age at first reproduction and reproductive effort, but, because they have direct impacts on these traits, life-history theory also deals with other traits such as body size.

  • A central assumption of life-history theory is that the most fit combination of trait values is determined by trade-offs among traits.

  • Much of the empirical research that stems from life-history theory is concerned with understanding how trade-offs arise.

  • Recent developments in genomics have enabled a dissection of the molecular underpinnings of trade-offs that are important to life-history evolution.

  • Genomic studies of trade-offs have shown that in many cases they arise because of the costs of up- or downregulation of gene expression.

  • Microarray analyses have indicated that changes in many genes could be involved in the expression of even dimorphic variation.

  • Life-history models typically predict single optima. Genomic analyses indicate that such optima might be attained by different suites of genes, and that different mechanisms can be involved in producing the same phenotypic end point.

Abstract

Life-history theory seeks to understand the factors that produce variation in life histories that are found both among and within species. At the organismal level there is a well developed mathematical framework, and an important focus of the current research is determining the biological underpinnings of this framework, with particular attention to the causal mechanisms that underlie trade-offs. Genomic approaches are proving useful in addressing this issue.

This is a preview of subscription content,access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Subscription info for Japanese customers

We have a dedicated website for our Japanese customers. Please go tonatureasia.com to subscribe to this journal.

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Different molecular mechanisms can produce the same phenotype.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Roff, D. A.The Evolution of Life Histories: Theory and Analysis (Chapman & Hall, New York, 1992).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Stearns, S. C.The Evolution of Life Histories (Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1992).References 1 and 2 provide a comprehensive overview of life-history theory.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Heppell, S. S. Application of life-history theory and population model analysis to turtle conservation.Copeia1998, 367–375 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Frisk, M. G., Miller, T. J. & Fogarty, M. J. Estimation and analysis of biological parameters in elasmobranch fishes: a comparative life history study.Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.58, 969–981 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Hill, K. Life history theory and evolutionary anthropology.Evol. Anthropol.2, 78–88 (1993).

    Article CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Stearns, S. C.Evolution in Health and Disease 328 (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1999).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Roff, D. A. & Fairbairn, D. J. The evolution of trade-offs: where are we?J. Evol. Biol. 10 Oct 2006 (doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2006.01255x)

  8. Mousseau, T. A. & Roff, D. A. Natural selection and the heritability of fitness components.Heredity59, 181–198 (1987).

    Article PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Houle, D. Comparing evolvability and variability of quantitative traits.Genetics130, 195–204 (1992).References 8 and 9 analyse the relationship between additive genetic variation and different categories of trait (life history, morphology, behavioural and physiological traits).

    CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Brown, P. O. & Botstein, D. Exploring the new world of the genome with DNA microarrays.Nature Genet.21, 33–37 (1999).A review of the logic and methodology of microarray technology.

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Roff, D. A.Life History Evolution (Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, 2002).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Roff, D. A. On being the right size.Am. Nat.118, 405–422 (1981).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Nijhout, H. F.Insect Hormones (Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, 1994).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Finch, C. E. & Rose, M. R. Hormones and the physiological architecture of life history evolution.Q. Rev. Biol.70, 1–52 (1995).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Tian, D., Traw, M. B., Chen, J. Q., Kreitman, M. & Bergelson, J. Fitness costs of R-gene-mediated resistance inArabidopsis thaliana.Nature423, 74–77 (2003).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Heidel, A. J., Clarke, J. D., Antonovics, J. & Dong, X. N. Fitness costs of mutations affecting the systemic acquired resistance pathway inArabidopsis thaliana.Genetics168, 2197–2206 (2004).

    Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Shimizu, K. K. & Purugganan, M. D. evolutionary and ecological genomics ofArabidopsis.Plant Physiol.138, 578–584 (2005).

    Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Takken, F. L. W., Albrecht, M. & Tameling, I. L. Resistance proteins: molecular switches of plant defence.Curr. Opin. Plant Biol.9, 383–390 (2006).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Zhong, D. B., Pai, A. & Yan, G. Y. Costly resistance to parasitism: evidence from simultaneous quantitative trait loci mapping for resistance and fitness inTribolium castaneum.Genetics169, 2127–2135 (2005).

    Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Stearns, S. C. & Magwene, P. The naturalist in a world of genomics.Am. Nat.161 171–180 (2003).

    Article PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Oakeshott, J. G., Home, I., Sutherland, T. D. & Russell, R. J. The genomics of insecticide resistance.Genome Biol.4, 202 (2003).

    Article PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. McKenzie, J. A. & Batterham, P. The genetic, molecular and phenotypic consequences of selection for insecticide resistance.Trends Ecol. Evol.9, 166–169 (1994).Discusses the relationship between molecular mechanisms of resistance and fitness.

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Smirle, M. J., Vincent, C., Zurowski, C. L. & Rancourt, B. Azinphosmethyl resistance in the obliquebanded leafroller,Choristoneura rosaceana: reversion in the absence of selection and relationship to detoxication enzyme activity.Pestic. Biochem. Physiol.61, 183–189 (1998).

    Article CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Festucci-Buselli, R. A. et al. Expression of Cyp6g1 and Cyp12d1 in DDT resistant and susceptible strains ofDrosophila melanogaster.Insect Mol. Biol.14, 69–77 (2005).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Carriere, Y., Deland, J.-P., Roff, D. A. & Vincent, C. Life-history costs associated with the evolution of insecticide resistance.Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci.258, 35–40 (1994).

    Article CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Boivin, T., Bouvier, J. C., Chadoeuf, J., Beslay, D. & Sauphanor, B. Constraints on adaptive mutations in the codling mothCydia pomonella (L.): measuring fitness trade-offs and natural selection.Heredity90, 107–113 (2003).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Janmaat, A. F. & Myers, J. H. The influences of host plant and genetic resistance toBacillus thuringiensis on trade-offs between offspring number and growth rate in cabbage loopers,Trichoplusia ni.Ecol. Entomol.31, 172–178 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Foster, S. P. et al. Analogous pleiotropic effects of insecticide resistance genotypes in peach-potato aphids and houseflies.Heredity91, 98–106 (2003).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Berticat, C., Boquien, G., Raymond, M. & Chevillon, C. Insecticide resistance genes induce a mating competition cost inCulex pipiens mosquitoes.Genet. Res.79, 41–47 (2002).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Drnevich, J. M., Reedy, M. M., Ruedi, E. A., Rodriguez-Zas, S. & Hughes, K. A. Quantitative evolutionary genomics: differential gene expression and male reproductive success inDrosophila melanogaster.Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci.271, 2267–2273 (2004).

    Article CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Roux, F. & Reboud, X. Is the cost of herbicide resistance expressed in the breakdown of the relationships between characters? A case study using synthetic-auxin-resistantArabidopsis thaliana mutants.Genet. Res.85, 101–110 (2005).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Bochdanovits, Z. & de Jong, G. Antagonistic pleiotropy for life-history traits at the gene expression level.Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci.271, S75–S78 (2004).

    Article CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Hutchings, J. A. & Myers, R. A. The evolution of alternative mating strategies in variable environments.Evol. Ecol.8, 256–268 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Aubin-Horth, N., Letcher, B. H. & Hofmann, H. A. Interaction of rearing environment and reproductive tactic on gene expression profiles in Atlantic salmon.J. Hered.96, 261–278 (2005).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Aubin-Horth, N., Landry, C. R., Letcher, B. H. & Hofmann, H. A. Alternative life histories shape brain gene expression profiles in males of the same population.Proc. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci.272, 1655–1662 (2005).

    Article CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Hofmann, H. A., Benson, M. E. & Fernald, R. D. Social status regulates growth rate: consequences for life-history strategies.Proc. Natl Acad. Sci.96, 14171–14176 (1999).

    Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  37. Hofmann, H. A. Functional genomics of neural and behavioral plasticityJ. Neurobiol.54, 272–282 (2003).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Roff, D. A. The evolution of threshold traits in animals.Q. Rev. Biol.71, 3–35 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Roff, D. A. Habitat persistence and the evolution of wing dimorphism in insects.Am. Nat.144, 772–798 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Abouheif, E. & Wray, G. A. Evolution of the gene network underlying wing polyphenism in ants.Science297, 249–252 (2002).A path-breaking demonstration that the same end point in a trait that is closely related to fitness can be achieved by different molecular mechanisms.

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Valenzuela, R. K., Forbes, S. N., Keim, P. & Service, P. M. Quantitative trait loci affecting life span in replicated populations ofDrosophila melanogaster. II. Response to selection.Genetics168, 313–324 (2004).

    Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  42. Nuzhdin, S. V., Khazaeli, A. A. & Curtsinger, J. W. Survival analysis of life span quantitative trait loci inDrosophila melanogaster.Genetics170, 719–731 (2005).

    Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  43. Leips, J., Gilligan, P. & Mackay, T. R. C. Quantitative trait loci with age-specific effects on fecundity inDrosophila melanogaster.Genetics172, 1595–1605 (2006).

    Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  44. Wayne, M. L. et al. Quantitative trait locus mapping of fitness-related traits inDrosophila melanogaster.Genet. Res.77 107–116 (2001).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Promislow, D. E. L., Tatar, M., Khazaeli, A. A. & Curtsinger, J. W. Age-specific patterns of genetic variance inDrosophila melanogaster. I. Mortality.Genetics143, 839–848 (1996).

    CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  46. Hughes, K. A. & Reynolds, R. M. Evolutionary and mechanistic theories of aging.Annu. Rev. Entomol.50, 421–445 (2005).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Gems, D. & Partridge, L. Insulin/IGF signalling and ageing: seeing the bigger picture.Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev.11, 287–292 (2001).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Kirkwood, T. B. L. Genes that shape the course of ageing.Trends Endocrin. Metab.14, 345–347 (2003).

    Article CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Brandt, B. W., Zwaan, B. J., Beekman, M., Westendorp, R. G. J. & Slagboom, P. E. Shuttling between species for pathways of lifespan regulation: a central role for the vitellogenin gene family?BioEssays27, 339–346 (2005).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Sgro, C. M. & Partridge, L. A delayed wave of death from reproduction inDrosophila.Science286, 2521–2524 (1999).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Kirkwood, T. B. L. Evolution of ageing.Mech. Ageing Dev.123, 737–745 (2002).

    Article PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Messenger, S. L., Molineux, I. J. & Bull, J. J. Virulence evolution in a virus obeys a trade-off.Proc. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci.266, 397–404 (1999).

    Article CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Wichman, H. A., Scott, L. A., Yarber, C. D. & Bull, J. J. Experimental evolution recapitulates natural evolution.Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci.355, 1677–1684 (2000).

    Article CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. Bennett, A. F. & Lenski, R. E. Experimental evolution and its role in evolutionary physiology.Am. Zool.39, 346–362 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Ferea, T. L., Botstein, D., Brown, P. O. & Rosenzweig, R. F. Systematic changes in gene expression patterns following adaptive evolution in yeast.Proc. Natl Acad. Sci.96, 9721–9726 (1999).

    Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  56. Anderson, J. B., Ricker, N. & Sirjusingh, C. Antagonism between two mechanisms of antifungal drug resistance.Eukaryot. Cell5, 1243–1251 (2006).

    Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  57. LaMunyon, C. W. & Ward, S. Evolution of larger sperm in response to experimentally increased sperm competition inCaenorhabditis elegans.Proc. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci.269, 1125–1128 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Cutter, A. D. Mutation and the experimental evolution of outcrossing inCaenorhabditis elegans.J. Evol. Biol.18, 27–34 (2005).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Reboud, X. & Bell, G. Experimental evolution inChlamydomonas. III. Evolution of specialist and generalist types in environments that vary in space and time.Heredity78, 507–514 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Chippindale, A. K., Alipaz, J. A., Chen, H. W. & Rose, M. R. Experimental evolution of accelerated development inDrosophila. 1. Development speed and larval survival.Evolution51, 1536–1551 (1997).

    Article PubMed  Google Scholar 

  61. Bettencourt, B. R., Feder, M. E. & Cavicchi, S. Experimental evolution of Hsp70 expression and thermotolerance inDrosophila melanogaster.Evolution53, 484–492 (1999).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Stearns, S. C., Ackermann, M., Doebeli, M. & Kaiser, M. Experimental evolution of aging, growth, and reproduction in fruitflies.Proc. Natl Acad. Sci.97, 3309–3313 (2000).

    Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  63. Mery, F. & Kawecki, T. J. Experimental evolution of learning ability in fruit flies.Proc. Natl Acad. Sci.99, 14274–14279 (2002).

    Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  64. Roff, D. A. & Fairbairn, D. J. Laboratory evolution of the migratory polymorphism in the sand cricket: combining physiology with quantitative genetics.Physiol. Biochem. Zool. (in the press).

  65. Stowe, K. A. Experimental evolution of resistance inBrassica rapa: correlated response of tolerance in lines selected for glucosinolate content.Evolution52, 703–712 (1998).

    CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  66. Krebs, R. A. & Feder, M. E. Deleterious consequences of Hsp70 overexpression inDrosphila melanogaster larvae.Cell Stress Chaperones2, 60–71 (1997).

    Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  67. Zhang, E. & Ferenci, T. OmpF changes and the complexity ofEscherichia coli adaptation to prolonged lactose limitation.FEMS Microbiol. Lett.176, 395–401 (1999).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  68. Mohamed, S. A., Rottmann, O. & Pirchner, F. Components of heterosis for growth traits and litter size in line crosses of mice after long-term selection.J. Anim. Breed. Genet.118, 263–270 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  69. Bult, A. & Lynch, C. B. Multiple selection responses in house mice bidirectionally selected for thermoregulatory nest-building behavior: crosses of replicate lines.Behav. Genet.26, 439–446 (1996).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  70. Ungerer, M. C., Linder, C. R. & Rieseberg, L. H. Effects of genetic background on response to selection in experimental populations ofArabidopsis thaliana.Genetics163, 277–286 (2003).

    CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  71. Ungerer, M. C. & Rieseberg, L. H. Genetic architecture of a selection response inArabidopsis thaliana.Evolution57, 2531–2539 (2003).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  72. Joshi, A. & Thompson, J. N. Alternative routes to the evolution of competitive ability in two competing species ofDrosophila.Evolution4, 616–625 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  73. Wichman, H. A., Scott, L. A., Yarber, C. D. & Bull, J. J. Experimental evolution recapitulates natural evolution.Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci.355, 1677–1684 (2000).

    Article CAS  Google Scholar 

  74. Gilchrist, A. S. & Partridge, L. A comparison of the genetic basis of wing size divergence in three parallel body size clines ofDrosophila melanogaster.Genetics153, 1775–1787 (1999).

    CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  75. Calboli, F. C. F., Kennington, W. J. & Partridge, L. QTL mapping reveals a striking coincidence in the positions of genomic regions associated with adaptive variation in body size in parallel clines ofDrosophila melanogaster on different continents.Evolution57, 2653–2658 (2003).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  76. Gilchrist, G. W., Huey, R. B., Balanya, J., Pascual, M. & Serra, L. A time series of evolution in action: A latitudinal cline in wing size in South AmericanDrosophila subobscura.Evolution58, 768–780 (2004).

    Article PubMed  Google Scholar 

  77. Calboli, F. C. F., Gilchrist, G. W. & Partridge, L. Different cell size and cell number contribution in two newly established and one ancient body size cline ofDrosophila subobscura.Evolution57, 566–573 (2003).

    Article PubMed  Google Scholar 

  78. McKenzie, J. A. inEvolutionary Ecology (eds Fox, C. W., Roff, D. A. & Fairbairn Daphne, J.) 347–360 (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 2001).

    Google Scholar 

  79. Walsh, B. Quantitative genetics in the age of genomics.Theor. Popul. Biol.59, 175–184 (2001).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  80. Roff, D. A., Heibo, E. & Vollestad, L. A. The importance of growth and mortality costs in the evolution of the optimal life history.J. Evol. Biol.19, 1920–1930 (2006).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  81. Garland, T. J., Midford, P. E. & Ives, A. R. An introduction to phylogenetically based statistical methods, with a new method for confidence intervals on ancestral values.Am. Zool.39, 374–388 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  82. Freckleton, R. P., Harvey, P. H. & Pagel, M. Phylogenetic analysis and comparative data: a test and review of evidenceAm. Nat.160, 712–726 (2002).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  83. Camara, M. D. & Pigliucci, M. Mutational contributions to variance-covariance matrices: an experimental approach using induced mutations inArabidopsis thaliana.Evolution53, 1692–1703 (1999).

    Article PubMed  Google Scholar 

  84. Flatt, T. & Kawecki, T. J. Pleiotropic effects ofmethoprene-tolerant (Met), a gene involved in juvenile hormone metabolism, on life history traits inDrosophila melanogaster.Genetica122, 141–160 (2004).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  85. Zinser, E. R., Schneider, D., Blott, M. & Kolter, R. Bacterial evolution through the selective loss of beneficial genes: trade-offs in expression involving two loci.Genetics164, 1271–1277 (2003).

    CAS PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  86. Stearns, S. C. & Kaiser, M. Effects on fitness components of P-element inserts inDrosophila melanogaster: analysis of trade-offs.Evolution50, 795–806 (1996).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  87. Mauricio, R. Mapping quantitative trait loci in plants: uses and caveats for evolutionary biology.Nature Rev. Genet.2, 370–381 (2001).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  88. Erickson, D. L., Fenster, C. B., Stenøien, H. K. & Price, D. Quantitative trait locus analyses and the study of evolutionary process.Mol. Ecol.13, 2505–2522 (2004).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  89. Gibson, G. Microarrays in ecology and evolution: a preview.Mol. Ecol.11, 17–24 (2002).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  90. Rise, M. L. et al. Development and application of a salmonid EST database and cDNA microarray: data mining and interspecific hybridization characteristics.Genome Res.14, 478–490 (2004).

    Article PubMed PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  91. Evans, J. D. & Wheeler, D. E. Gene expression and the evolution of insect polyphenisms.BioEssays23, 62–68 (2001).

    Article CAS PubMed  Google Scholar 

  92. Schluter, D. Adaptive radiation along genetic lines of least resistance.Evolution50, 1766–1774 (1996).

    Article PubMed  Google Scholar 

  93. Blows, M. W. & Hoffmann, A. A. A reassessment of genetic limits to evolutionary change.Ecology86, 1371–1384 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the US National Science Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, 92521, California, USA

    Derek A. Roff

Authors
  1. Derek A. Roff

Corresponding author

Correspondence toDerek A. Roff.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Related links

Related links

FURTHER INFORMATION

Derek A. Roff's web site

Glossary

Pleiotropy

The influence of a locus on more than one trait.

Eigenvectors

The set of coefficients that define each principal component.

Eigenvalue

The variance of each principal component.

Linkage disequilibrium

The non-random association between two loci. This can be caused by physical linkage due to the two loci being on the same chromosome, or to disassortative mating.

Antagonistic pleiotropy

A negative genetic correlation between traits such that selection on one trait is opposed by the consequent selection on the second trait.

Dimorphic variation

Variation in which two distinct morphs can be identified (for example, wing dimorphism in insects).

Threshold model

The threshold model assumes that there is a normally distributed underlying trait, called the liability, plus a threshold: individuals above the threshold follow one developmental pathway, whereas individuals below the threshold follow the alternative pathway.

Holometabolous

A mode of development in insects in which there are discrete larval and pupal stages (as in Diptera and Lepidoptera).

Hemimetabolous

Insects in which development proceeds without a distinct pupal stage, with the nymphal stages moulting directly into the adult form (as in Hemiptera and Orthoptera).

Mutation accumulation

One hypothesis to account for senescence. Mutations accumulate during life as a result of errors that are incurred during sequential somatic cell divisions. Such mutations have deleterious effects on survival.

Rights and permissions

This article is cited by

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

Advertisement

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for theNature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox.Sign up for Nature Briefing
[8]ページ先頭
©2009-2025 Movatter.jp