The DOI matches its Crossref record; 90 of the 93 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Robustness and evolution: concepts, insights and challenges from a developmental model system
Open accessAbstract
Robustness, the persistence of an organismal trait under perturbations, is a ubiquitous property of complex living systems. We here discuss key concepts related to robustness with examples from vulva development in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. We emphasize the need to be clear about the perturbations a trait is (or is not) robust to. We discuss two prominent mechanistic causes of robustness, namely redundancy and distributed robustness. We also discuss possible evolutionary causes of robustness, one of which does not involve natural selection. To better understand robustness is of paramount importance for understanding organismal evolution. Part of the reason is that highly robust systems can accumulate cryptic variation that can serve as a source of new adaptations and evolutionary innovations. We point to some key challenges in improving our understanding of robustness.
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“The functioning of many biochemical networks is often robust - remarkably stable under changes in external conditions and internal reaction parameters.”
From Sloppiness, robustness, and evolvability in systems biology (2008) · cites this paper as [5]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Félix, M.-A., & Wagner, A.
- Affiliations
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Zurich (CH)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Heredity
- Published
- 2006-12-13
- Volume
- 100
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 132-140
- ISSN
- 0018-067X (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2540
- OpenAlex
- W2147777139
- Cited by
- 210
- References
- 93
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 0.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Heredity (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
- Funders
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-05)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM063882, GM63882)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy of Biology and Scientific Explanation
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
- Keywords
- robustness, vulval development, Caenorhabditis elegans, redundancy, cryptic variation, evolutionary innovation, developmental robustness, natural selection
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Biological Evolution, Female, Vulva, Caenorhabditis elegans
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