Persistence of a biological trait under uncertain conditions
In evolutionary biology, robustness of a biological system (also called biological or genetic robustness[1]) is the persistence of a certain characteristic or trait in a system under perturbations or conditions of uncertainty.[2][3] Robustness in development is known as canalization.[4][5] According to the kind of perturbation involved, robustness can be classified as mutational, environmental, recombinational, or behavioral robustness etc.[6][7][8] Robustness is achieved through the combination of many genetic and molecular mechanisms and can evolve by either direct or indirect selection. Several model systems have been developed to experimentally study robustness and its evolutionary consequences.
A network of genotypes linked by mutations. Each genotype is made up of 3 genes: a, b & c. Each gene can be one of two alleles. Lines link different phenotypes by mutation. The phenotype is indicated by colour. Genotypes abc, Abc, aBc and abC lie on a neutral network since all have the same, dark phenotype. Genotype abc is robust since any single mutation retains the same phenotype. Other genotypes are less robust as mutations change the phenotype (e.g. ABc).
^Fernandez-Leon, Jose A. (2011). "Evolving cognitive-behavioural dependencies in situated agents for behavioural robustness". Biosystems. 106 (2–3): 94–110. doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2011.07.003. PMID21840371.
^Fernandez-Leon, Jose A. (2011). "Behavioural robustness: A link between distributed mechanisms and coupled transient dynamics". Biosystems. 105 (1): 49–61. doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2011.03.006. PMID21466836.