Epigenetic Feedback Regulation Accelerates Adaptation and Evolution

A simple cell model consisting of a gene regulatory network with epigenetic feedback regulation is studied to evaluate the effect of epigenetic dynamics on adaptation and evolution. We find that, the type of epigenetic dynamics considered enables a cell to adapt to unfamiliar environmental changes, for which no regulatory program has been prepared, through noise-driven selection of a cellular state with a high growth rate. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the inclusion of epigenetic regulation promotes evolutionary development of a regulatory network that can respond to environmental changes in a fast and precise manner. These results strongly suggest that epigenetic feedback regulation in gene expression dynamics provides a significant increase in fitness by engendering an increase in cellular plasticity during adaptation and evolution.

• Publication year

  2013

• Venue

  PLoS ONE

• Publication date

  2013-05-08

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0061251PMID 23667436PMCID 3648564
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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