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Evolution of Phenotypic Plasticity and Gene Expression during Character Displacement

Character displacement – trait evolution that arises as an adaptive response to competition between species – is central to the origins, abundance and distribution of biodiversity. Yet, until recently, little was known of character displacement’s underlying mechanisms. Although character displacement is assumed to arise solely through changes in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence, many species can also respond adaptively to competition by facultatively altering traits via phenotypic plasticity, which frequently entails changes in gene expression. New research has revealed that these two mechanisms might often act together during character displacement. In particular, character displacement might proceed through an initial phase in which trait (and gene expression) differences are environmentally induced to a latter phase in which such differences become fixed via changes in DNA sequence. This plasticity-first hypothesis has increasing support, suggesting that it may be a common pathway to character displacement.