Gene–Environment Interactions in Evolutionary Developmental Biology
A special issue of Biology (ISSN 2079-7737). This special issue belongs to the section "Evolutionary Biology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 1733
Special Issue Editor
Interests: evolution; developmental biology; physiology; eco-evo-devo; gene-environment interactions; modeling; drosophila; morphology; allometry; plasticity
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The impact of the environment on every aspect of phenotype, including cellular function, physiology, morphology, and behavior, has long been recognized. As early as the seventeenth century, natural philosophers understood phenotypic plasticity—the ability of individual genotypes to produce different phenotypes in different environments—to be a fundamental characteristic of life. However, our understanding of the mechanisms through which the environment contributes to phenotypic variation remains relatively basic, covering only a limited range of environmental factors. Even less well elucidated is the genetic architecture of phenotypic plasticity, despite decades of research describing gene–environment interactions. Meanwhile, organisms are increasingly facing both chronic and acute human-induced environmental changes at local and global scales, heightening the urgency to comprehend their plastic response to this change, and how this plasticity evolves.
This Special Issue seeks to gather papers exploring the mechanistic bases of phenotypic plasticity and gene–environment interactions and their impact on all aspects of phenotype, whether molecular, cellular, physiological, or neurological. We particularly encourage submissions that examine the responses of organisms, including humans, within their natural settings or to anthropogenic stressors, and how these responses evolve. We accept reviews, short communications, methodology papers, and full-length research papers. Our goal is to provide readers with an extensive review of the current research on the mechanisms that determine how organisms react to a changing world, now and in the future.
I look forward to receiving your contributions.
Prof. Dr. Alexander Shingleton
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- phenotypic plasticity
- gene–environment interactions
- genetic architecture of plasticity
- mechanisms of phenotypic variation
- anthropogenic stressors
- evolution of plastic responses
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