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Prediction of evolution? Somatic plasticity as a basic, physiological condition for the viability of genetic mutations

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Abstract

The argument is put forward that genetic mutations are viable then only, when the changed pattern of growth and/or metabolism is accommodated by the taxon-specific biochemistry of the organisms, i.e. by adaptive, somatic/physiological plasticity. The range of somatic plasticity under changing environmental conditions, therefore, has a certain predictive value for the kind of mutations that are likely to be viable.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology (OPEC), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Caixa Postal 478, 69011-970, Manaus AM, Brasil

    I. Walker

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  1. I. Walker
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Walker, I. Prediction of evolution? Somatic plasticity as a basic, physiological condition for the viability of genetic mutations. Acta Biotheor 44, 165–168 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00048422

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00048422

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