Phenotypic plasticity confers a fitness advantage to an organism by tailoring phenotype to environmental circumstances. The extent to which phenotypic plasticity emerges as an adaptive response is still unknown, however it is predicted that the emergence and maintenance of phenotypic plasticity occurs only during evolution in fluctuating environments. Interestingly, experimental studies have shown that phenotypic plasticity can be preserved for several generations during evolution in a constant environment. Here, we evolve a mutant strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that has reduced plasticity in a constant and fluctuating environment. Subsequently we compared the adaptive response of the evolved cell, both at the phenotype and genotype level. As predicted by current theory, we find that evolution in a fluctuating environment results in a recovery of phenotypic plasticity. Surprisingly, evolution in a constant environment can lead to a similar recovery of plasticity due to a pleiotropic coupling of different traits. Thus, plasticity can emerge in both fluctuating and constant environments and its prevalence may mainly be determined by network structure. In addition, pleiotropic interactions may be an important structural component of biological networks that can facilitate the recovery of phenotypic plasticity without the requirement to continuously encounter environmental fluctuations.

中文翻译：

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多变性可以在恒定的环境中恢复表型可塑性

表型可塑性通过根据环境条件定制表型，从而赋予生物体适应性优势。表型可塑性作为适应性反应出现的程度仍是未知的，但是据预测，表型可塑性的出现和维持仅发生在波动环境中。有趣的是，实验研究表明，在恒定的环境中进化过程中，表型可塑性可以保留几代。在这里，我们进化了酿酒酵母的突变菌株，该菌株在恒定且波动的环境中具有降低的可塑性。随后，我们在表型和基因型水平上比较了进化细胞的适应性反应。根据目前的理论，我们发现，在动荡的环境中进化会导致表型可塑性的恢复。出乎意料的是，由于不同性状的多效性耦合，在恒定环境中的进化可导致相似的可塑性恢复。因此，可塑性可以在波动和恒定的环境中出现，其流行程度主要取决于网络结构。此外，多效性相互作用可能是生物网络的重要结构组成部分，可以促进表型可塑性的恢复，而无需持续遇到环境波动。可塑性可以在波动和恒定的环境中出现，其流行程度主要取决于网络结构。此外，多效性相互作用可能是生物网络的重要结构组成部分，可以促进表型可塑性的恢复，而无需持续遇到环境波动。可塑性可以在波动和恒定的环境中出现，其流行程度主要取决于网络结构。此外，多效性相互作用可能是生物网络的重要结构组成部分，可以促进表型可塑性的恢复，而无需持续遇到环境波动。