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. 2013:2013:862739.
doi: 10.1155/2013/862739. Epub 2013 May 16.

Speciation, phenotypic variation and plasticity: what can endocrine disruptors tell us?

Braulio Ayala-García  1 , Marta López-Santibáñez Guevara, Lluvia I Marcos-Camacho, Alma L Fuentes-Farías, Esperanza Meléndez-Herrera, Gabriel Gutiérrez-Ospina
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Speciation, phenotypic variation and plasticity: what can endocrine disruptors tell us?

Braulio Ayala-García et al. Int J Endocrinol. 2013.

Abstract

Phenotype variability, phenotypic plasticity, and the inheritance of phenotypic traits constitute the fundamental ground of processes such as individuation, individual and species adaptation and ultimately speciation. Even though traditional evolutionary thinking relies on genetic mutations as the main source of intra- and interspecies phenotypic variability, recent studies suggest that the epigenetic modulation of gene transcription and translation, epigenetic memory, and epigenetic inheritance are by far the most frequent reliable sources of transgenerational variability among viable individuals within and across organismal species. Therefore, individuation and speciation should be considered as nonmutational epigenetic phenomena.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Diagrams that illustrate the hypothetical models by which the phenotype of a given animal species may be preserved under normal environmental conditions (a) or diversified under extreme environmental conditions (b). Phenotypic stasis (a) or speciation (b), respectively, are the end results of these models. Sp., Species.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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