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The evolution of division of labour in structured and unstructured groups

Recent theory has overturned the assumption that accelerating returns from individual specialisation are required to favour the evolution of division of labour. Yanni et al., 2020, showed that topologically constrained groups, where cells cooperate with only direct neighbours such as for filaments o...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Cooper, Guy Alexander, Frost, Hadleigh, Liu, Ming, West, Stuart Andrew
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8789276/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34713804
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.71968
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author Cooper, Guy Alexander
Frost, Hadleigh
Liu, Ming
West, Stuart Andrew
author_facet Cooper, Guy Alexander
Frost, Hadleigh
Liu, Ming
West, Stuart Andrew
author_sort Cooper, Guy Alexander
collection PubMed
description Recent theory has overturned the assumption that accelerating returns from individual specialisation are required to favour the evolution of division of labour. Yanni et al., 2020, showed that topologically constrained groups, where cells cooperate with only direct neighbours such as for filaments or branching growths, can evolve a reproductive division of labour even with diminishing returns from individual specialisation. We develop a conceptual framework and specific models to investigate the factors that can favour the initial evolution of reproductive division of labour. We find that selection for division of labour in topologically constrained groups: (1) is not a single mechanism to favour division of labour—depending upon details of the group structure, division of labour can be favoured for different reasons; (2) always involves an efficiency benefit at the level of group fitness; and (3) requires a mechanism of coordination to determine which individuals perform which tasks. Given that such coordination must evolve prior to or concurrently with division of labour, this could limit the extent to which topological constraints favoured the initial evolution of division of labour. We conclude by suggesting experimental designs that could determine why division of labour is favoured in the natural world.
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spelling pubmed-87892762022-01-27 The evolution of division of labour in structured and unstructured groups Cooper, Guy Alexander Frost, Hadleigh Liu, Ming West, Stuart Andrew eLife Evolutionary Biology Recent theory has overturned the assumption that accelerating returns from individual specialisation are required to favour the evolution of division of labour. Yanni et al., 2020, showed that topologically constrained groups, where cells cooperate with only direct neighbours such as for filaments or branching growths, can evolve a reproductive division of labour even with diminishing returns from individual specialisation. We develop a conceptual framework and specific models to investigate the factors that can favour the initial evolution of reproductive division of labour. We find that selection for division of labour in topologically constrained groups: (1) is not a single mechanism to favour division of labour—depending upon details of the group structure, division of labour can be favoured for different reasons; (2) always involves an efficiency benefit at the level of group fitness; and (3) requires a mechanism of coordination to determine which individuals perform which tasks. Given that such coordination must evolve prior to or concurrently with division of labour, this could limit the extent to which topological constraints favoured the initial evolution of division of labour. We conclude by suggesting experimental designs that could determine why division of labour is favoured in the natural world. eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2021-10-29 /pmc/articles/PMC8789276/ /pubmed/34713804 http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.71968 Text en © 2021, Cooper et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Evolutionary Biology
Cooper, Guy Alexander
Frost, Hadleigh
Liu, Ming
West, Stuart Andrew
The evolution of division of labour in structured and unstructured groups
title The evolution of division of labour in structured and unstructured groups
title_full The evolution of division of labour in structured and unstructured groups
title_fullStr The evolution of division of labour in structured and unstructured groups
title_full_unstemmed The evolution of division of labour in structured and unstructured groups
title_short The evolution of division of labour in structured and unstructured groups
title_sort evolution of division of labour in structured and unstructured groups
topic Evolutionary Biology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8789276/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34713804
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.71968
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