arXiv subjects

Cameron Smith

Publications and source records attributed to Cameron Smith.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Hierarchical Network Structure Promotes Dynamical Robustness

The relationship between network topology and system dynamics has significant implications for unifying our understanding of the interplay among metabolic, gene-regulatory, and ecosystem network architecures. Here we analyze the stability and robustness of a large class of dynamics on such networks. We determine the probability distribution of robustness as a function of network topology and show that robustness is classified by the number of links between modules of the network. We also demonstrate that permutation of these modules is a fundamental symmetry of dynamical robustness. Analysis of these findings leads to the conclusion that the most robust systems have the most hierarchical structure. This relationship provides a means by which evolutionary selection for a purely dynamical phenomenon may shape network architectures across scales of the biological hierarchy.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2015

Emergence of self-reinforcing information bottlenecks in multilevel selection

We explain how hierarchical organization of biological systems emerges naturally during evolution, through a transition in the units of individuality. We will show how these transitions are the result of competing selective forces operating at different levels of organization, each level having different units of individuality. Such a transition represents a singular point in the evolutionary process, which we will show corresponds to a phase transition in the way information is encoded, with the formation of self-reinforcing information bottlenecks. We present an abstract model for characterizing these transitions that is quite general, applicable to many different versions of such transitions. As a concrete example, we consider the transition to multicellularity. Specifically, we study a stochastic model where isolated communities of interacting individuals (e.g. cells) undergo a transition to higher-order individuality (e.g. multicellularity). This transition is indicated by the marked decrease in the number of cells utilized to generate new communities from pre-existing ones. In this sense, the community begins to reproduce as a whole via a decreasing number of cells. We show that the fitness barrier to this transition is strongly reduced by horizontal gene transfer. These features capture two of the most prominent aspects of the transition to multicellularity: the evolution of a developmental process and reproduction through a unicellular bottleneck.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2015

Potential unsatisfiability of cyclic constraints on stochastic biological networks biases selection toward hierarchical architectures

Constraints placed upon the phenotypes of organisms result from their interactions with the environment. Over evolutionary timescales, these constraints feed back onto smaller molecular subnetworks comprising the organism. The evolution of biological networks is studied by considering a network of a few nodes embedded in a larger context. Taking into account this fact that any network under study is actually embedded in a larger context, we define network architecture, not on the basis of physical interactions alone, but rather as a specification of the manner in which constraints are placed upon the states of its nodes. We show that such network architectures possessing cycles in their topology, in contrast to those that do not, may be subjected to unsatisfiable constraints. This may be a significant factor leading to selection biased against those network architectures where such inconsistent constraints are more likely to arise. We proceed to quantify the likelihood of inconsistency arising as a function of network architecture finding that, in the absence of sampling bias over the space of possible constraints and for a given network size, networks with a larger number of cycles are more likely to have unsatisfiable constraints placed upon them. Our results identify a constraint that, at least in isolation, would contribute to a bias in the evolutionary process toward more hierarchical-modular versus completely connected network architectures. Together, these results highlight the context-dependence of the functionality of biological networks.

q-bio.MN↗