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Old Questions and Young Approaches to Animal Evolution pp 237–249Cite as

How Does Modularity in the Genotype–Phenotype Map Shape Development and Evolution?

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Abstract

Traits do not evolve independently, as genetic and developmental associations affect the variation that is expressed in populations and that is available for evolutionary change. In this chapter, we explore the causes and consequences of structured variation, introducing the concept of modularity, exploring some possible causes for modular organization in different levels, and, finally, discussing how the introduction of new variation can evolve.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Diogo Melo

Authors
  1. Diogo Melo
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Correspondence to Diogo Melo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    José M. Martín-Durán

  2. Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany

    Bruno C. Vellutini

Glossary

Complex phenotype

Multivariate phenotypes, composed by several interacting traits and controlled by several loci. Gene expression, body composition, and skeletal structures are examples of complex phenotypes.

Epistasis

Changes in phenotype caused by interactions between two of more loci.

Genetic architecture

The structure of the relation between genotype and phenotype. Which regions of the genome affect which phenotypes.

Genetic effects

How a particular allele is expected to change the phenotype of an individual in relation to the population mean. This can depend on the population allele frequencies, other alleles, or the environment.

Genotype–phenotype map

The mapping between a genetic and phenotypic variants.

Modularity

A pattern of association between parts where some groups of elements are strongly interrelated among themselves, and elements belonging to different groups are weakly interrelated.

Pleiotropy

The phenomenon in which an allele affects multiple distinct traits.

Variation and variability

Variation refers to the realized differences between individuals in a population, while variability is the ability to generate this variation.

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Melo, D. (2019). How Does Modularity in the Genotype–Phenotype Map Shape Development and Evolution?. In: Martín-Durán, J., Vellutini, B. (eds) Old Questions and Young Approaches to Animal Evolution. Fascinating Life Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18202-1_11

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