Linking Phenotypic and Molecular Evolution: Mechanisms and Models
A special issue of Genes (ISSN 2073-4425). This special issue belongs to the section "Population and Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 April 2026 | Viewed by 17
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The link between molecular and phenotypic evolution remains a fundamental but incompletely understood issue in evolutionary biology. Phenotypic adaptation arises from the accumulation of molecular changes that reshape the genotype–phenotype–fitness landscape; however, this translation is modulated by mutation, recombination, drift, and selection. The rate and direction of adaptive evolution depend on the mutational input, distribution of fitness effects, and efficiency of selection and genetic drift, which scale with effective population size (Ne). The tempo and trajectory of adaptation thus emerge from the stochastic origin of mutations and the deterministic action of selection, depending on their population-genetic context and molecular functions (e.g., regulatory and developmental systems). This Special Issue explores the molecular and theoretical foundations of how adaptive evolution proceeds through the dynamic interplay between stochastic processes, selection, and environmental change.
Dr. Wen Wei
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- genomic and phenotypic evolution
- adaptive evolution
- selection and genetic drift
- genotype–phenotype–fitness landscape
- accumulation of mutations
- evolvability of complex traits
- molecular evolution drivers
- transcriptomic agaianst protein-coding evolution
- experimental evolution
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