Evolutionary trade–offs at two time–scales: competition versus persistence

Evolutionary Tradeoffs

In biological systems, traits are often linked in ways that prevent simultaneous optimization of all of them. The resulting ‘evolutionary tradeoffs’ reflect necessary compromises among the functions of multiple traits. Such compromises are particularly clear when energy must be allocated among competing metabolic functions. Energy allocated to growth is not available for reproduction, immune fu...

Genomic clocks and evolutionary timescales.

For decades, molecular clocks have helped to illuminate the evolutionary timescale of life, but now genomic data pose a challenge for time estimation methods. It is unclear how to integrate data from many genes, each potentially evolving under a different model of substitution and at a different rate. Current methods can be grouped by the way the data are handled (genes considered separately or...

Up-Front Design Versus Evolutionary Design in Denali’s Persistence Layer

This experience report describes the evolution of a persistence architecture over the course of nine months. The persistence architecture was developed as part of a common code base for internally developed web applications. The code base, named Denali, was developed from the ground-up using Extreme Programming and a team of six programmers. Denali was originally developed using up-front design...

Genomics of parallel adaptation at two timescales in Drosophila

Two interesting unanswered questions are the extent to which both the broad patterns and genetic details of adaptive divergence are repeatable across species, and the timescales over which parallel adaptation may be observed. Drosophila melanogaster is a key model system for population and evolutionary genomics. Findings from genetics and genomics suggest that recent adaptation to latitudinal e...

Prediction at Different Timescales