de Visser J Arjan G M, Hermisson Joachim, Wagner Günter P, Ancel Meyers Lauren, Bagheri-Chaichian Homayoun, Blanchard Jeffrey L, Chao Lin, Cheverud James M, Elena Santiago F, Fontana Walter, Gibson Greg, Hansen Thomas F, Krakauer David, Lewontin Richard C, Ofria Charles, Rice Sean H, von Dassow George, Wagner Andreas, Whitlock Michael C
Department of Genetics, Wageningen University, Arboretumlaan 4, 6703 BD Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Evolution. 2003 Sep;57(9):1959-72. doi: 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2003.tb00377.x.
Robustness is the invariance of phenotypes in the face of perturbation. The robustness of phenotypes appears at various levels of biological organization, including gene expression, protein folding, metabolic flux, physiological homeostasis, development, and even organismal fitness. The mechanisms underlying robustness are diverse, ranging from thermodynamic stability at the RNA and protein level to behavior at the organismal level. Phenotypes can be robust either against heritable perturbations (e.g., mutations) or nonheritable perturbations (e.g., the weather). Here we primarily focus on the first kind of robustness--genetic robustness--and survey three growing avenues of research: (1) measuring genetic robustness in nature and in the laboratory; (2) understanding the evolution of genetic robustness: and (3) exploring the implications of genetic robustness for future evolution.
鲁棒性是指表型在面对扰动时的不变性。表型的鲁棒性出现在生物组织的各个层面，包括基因表达、蛋白质折叠、代谢通量、生理稳态、发育乃至生物体适应性。鲁棒性背后的机制多种多样，从RNA和蛋白质水平的热力学稳定性到生物体水平的行为。表型可以对可遗传扰动（如突变）或非遗传扰动（如天气）具有鲁棒性。在这里，我们主要关注第一种鲁棒性——遗传鲁棒性，并概述三个不断发展的研究方向：（1）在自然和实验室中测量遗传鲁棒性；（2）理解遗传鲁棒性的进化；以及（3）探索遗传鲁棒性对未来进化的影响。
