Establishment of Evolutionary Fluctuation-Response Theory and Extension to Developmental and Mutilevel Evolution

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: Evolutionary theory for constrained and directional diversities
• Project/Area Number: 17H06386
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Biological Sciences
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Kaneko Kunihiko 東京大学, 大学院総合文化研究科, 名誉教授 (30177513)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 藤本 仰一 大阪大学, 大学院理学研究科, 准教授 (60334306)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-06-30 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 頑健性 / 可塑性 / 学習 / 進化 / 次元圧縮

Outline of Final Research Achievements

(1)Low-dimensional constraint of phenotypic evolution: Through simulations, we showed that the region in which phenotypes of cells can vary after the evolution is bounded in a low dimension, and theoretically explained its universality.
(2) Hierarchical evolution: We analyzed evolution across the molecular-cellular-individual-ecological hierarchy. Especially when selection pressure is applied in the oppsite direction across the hierarchy, there emerges a symmetry breaking between information-carrying and function-carrying elements, which leads to the origin of genes.
(3) Theory of evolutionary developmental correspondence: We performed evolutionary simulations of developmental processes and showed that modes with slow time scales produce evolutionary developmental response. We also identified cross-species universality in organ geometry and the developmental constraints that give rise to it.

Free Research Field

理論生物物理

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

表現型がどの方向に進化しやすく、また進化に制約がかかっていることが理論的に明らかになり、しかもその制約や方向が進化の起こる以前の状態の揺らぎと相関していることが示された。これは遺伝子の変異がでたらめに起きても表現型の進化は予測できることを含意している。また表現型の少数自由度への制約や階層進化理論で見られた役割分業は従来の揺らぎ応答進化理論を超える枠組みであり、生物進化のみならず人間社会の進化の考え方でも大きな意義を持つ。これらの結果により、今後の進化学に大きな影響を与える包括的な進化理論の道が開かれた。