Department of Biology, University of Padova, Via U. Bassi 58/B, I-35131 Padova, Italy.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2010 Feb 27;365(1540):547-56. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2009.0267.
This theme issue pursues an exploration of the potential of taking into account the environmental sensitivity of development to explaining the evolution of metazoan life cycles, with special focus on complex life cycles and the role of developmental plasticity. The evolution of switches between alternative phenotypes as a response to different environmental cues and the evolution of the control of the temporal expression of alternative phenotypes within an organism's life cycle are here treated together as different dimensions of the complex relationships between genotype and phenotype, fostering the emergence of a more general and comprehensive picture of phenotypic evolution through a quite diverse sample of case studies. This introductory article reviews fundamental facts and concepts about phenotypic plasticity, adopting the most authoritative terminology in use in the current literature. The main topics are types and components of phenotypic variation, the evolution of organismal traits through plasticity, the origin and evolution of phenotypic plasticity and its adaptive value.
本期专题探讨了将发展的环境敏感性纳入解释后生动物生命周期演变的潜力，特别关注复杂的生命周期和发育可塑性的作用。本文将不同环境线索刺激下替代表型之间转换的开关的进化以及生物体生命周期内替代表型时间表达的控制的进化作为基因型和表型之间复杂关系的不同方面进行了处理，通过相当多样化的案例研究，促进了对表型进化的更全面和综合的认识。本文的导言部分回顾了关于表型可塑性的基本事实和概念，采用了当前文献中使用的最权威术语。主要主题包括表型变异的类型和组成、通过可塑性进化的生物体特征、表型可塑性的起源和进化及其适应性价值。
