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Molecular evolution

Hidden diversity sparks adaptation

Nature volume 474, pages 45–46 (2011)Cite this article

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Although some genetic mutations have clear effects, others have been considered neutral and inconsequential. Such cryptic mutations can nonetheless facilitate adaptation to new environments. See Letter p.92

Is genetic variation primarily neutral, or is it predominantly shaped by natural selection? Biologists have debated this question for decades. And although the neutralist–selectionist argument has fuelled advances in our understanding of molecular evolution, it has contributed less to our knowledge of how organisms adapt to changing environments. Recent theories about robustness and evolvability, as well as experiments with enzymes and with microbes, suggest that adaptation may depend on a deep and largely unappreciated interaction between neutral and beneficial mutations. On page 92 of this issue, Hayden et al.1 describe an empirical test of this hypothesis.

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Figure 1: Role of cryptic genetic variation in adaptation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jeremy A. Draghi and Joshua B. Plotkin are in the Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.,

    Jeremy A. Draghi & Joshua B. Plotkin

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  1. Jeremy A. Draghi
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  2. Joshua B. Plotkin
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Correspondence to Joshua B. Plotkin.

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Draghi, J., Plotkin, J. Hidden diversity sparks adaptation. Nature 474, 45–46 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/474045a

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