Author:
Azevedo Ricardo B. R.,Leroi Armand M.
Abstract
Darwin observed that multiple, lowly organized, rudimentary,
or exaggerated structures show increased relative variability. However,
the cellular basis for these laws has never been investigated. Some
animals, such as the nematode Caenorhabditis
elegans, are famous for having organs that possess the same
number of cells in all individuals, a property known as eutely. But for
most multicellular creatures, the extent of cell number variability is
unknown. Here we estimate variability in organ cell number for a
variety of animals, plants, slime moulds, and volvocine algae. We find
that the mean and variance in cell number obey a power law with an
exponent of 2, comparable to Taylor's law in ecological processes.
Relative cell number variability, as measured by the coefficient of
variation, differs widely across taxa and tissues, but is generally
independent of mean cell number among homologous tissues of closely
related species. We show that the power law for cell number variability
can be explained by stochastic branching process models based on the
properties of cell lineages. We also identify taxa in which the
precision of developmental control appears to have evolved. We propose
that the scale independence of relative cell number variability is
maintained by natural selection.
Publisher
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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