The evolution of germ-soma specialization under different genetic and environmental effects.
Cell microenvironment
Division of labor
Germ-soma specialization
Resource constraint
Trade-off
Journal
Journal of theoretical biology
ISSN: 1095-8541
Titre abrégé: J Theor Biol
Pays: England
ID NLM: 0376342
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
07 02 2022
07 02 2022
Historique:
received:
18
03
2021
revised:
10
11
2021
accepted:
12
11
2021
pubmed:
29
11
2021
medline:
1
4
2022
entrez:
28
11
2021
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Division of labor exists at different levels of biological organization - from cell colonies to human societies. One of the simplest examples of the division of labor in multicellular organisms is germ-soma specialization, which plays a key role in the evolution of organismal complexity. Here we formulate and study a general mathematical model exploring the emergence of germ-soma specialization in colonies of cells. We consider a finite population of colonies competing for resources. Colonies are of the same size and are composed by asexually reproducing haploid cells. Each cell can contribute to activity and fecundity of the colony, these contributions are traded-off. We assume that all cells within a colony are genetically identical but gene effects on fecundity and activity are influenced by variation in the microenvironment experienced by individual cells. Through analytical theory and evolutionary agent-based modeling we show that the shape of the trade-off relation between somatic and reproductive functions, the type and extent of variation in within-colony microenvironment, and, in some cases, the number of genes involved, are important predictors of the extent of germ-soma specialization. Specifically, increasing convexity of the trade-off relation, the number of different environmental gradients acting within a colony, and the number of genes (in the case of random microenvironmental effects) promote the emergence of germ-soma specialization. Overall our results contribute towards a better understanding of the role of genetic, environmental, and microenvironmental factors in the evolution of germ-soma specialization.
Identifiants
pubmed: 34838795
pii: S0022-5193(21)00384-2
doi: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110964
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
110964Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.