Phenotypic Diversity, Population Growth, and Information in Fluctuating Environments

作者：Edo L. Kussell, Stanislas Leibler · 发表于：Science · 年份：2005 · DOI：10.1126/science.1114383 · 被引用次数：1459 · 研究领域：Evolution and Genetic Dynamics、Gene Regulatory Network Analysis、Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation

Organisms in fluctuating environments must constantly adapt their behavior to survive. In clonal populations, this may be achieved through sensing followed by response or through the generation of diversity by stochastic phenotype switching. Here we show that stochastic switching can be favored over sensing when the environment changes infrequently. The optimal switching rates then mimic the statistics of environmental changes. We derive a relation between the long-term growth rate of the organism and the information available about its fluctuating environment.