Background Living organisms are continuously confronted with perturbations, such as
environmental changes that include fluctuations in temperature and nutrient availability, or …

Organismal development is remarkably robust, tolerating stochastic errors to produce
consistent, so-called canalized adult phenotypes. The mechanistic underpinnings of …

Microenvironmental sensitivity of a genotype refers to the ability to buffer against non-
specific environmental factors, and it can be quantified by the amount of residual variation in …

Efforts to identify loci underlying complex traits generally assume that most genetic variance
is additive. Here, we examined the genetics of Arabidopsis thaliana root length and found …

Recent studies are starting to show that genetic control over stochastic variation is a key
evolutionary solution of single celled organisms in the face of unpredictable environments …

Differences in phenotype among genetically identical individuals exposed to the same
environmental condition are often noted in genetic studies. Despite this commonplace …

Genetic background effects contribute to the phenotypic consequences of mutations and are
pervasive across all domains of life that have been examined, yet little is known about how …

Plant cells communicate with each other using a variety of signaling molecules. Recent
studies have revealed that various types of secreted peptides, as well as phytohormones …

The theoretical ability of epigenetic variation to influence the heritable variation of complex
traits is gaining traction in the study of adaptation. This theory posits that epigenetic marks …

Biological systems are subject to inherent stochasticity. Nevertheless, development is
remarkably robust, ensuring the consistency of key phenotypic traits such as correct cell …