Searching for Modular Structure in Complex Phenotypes: Inferences from Network Theory

Autores
Pérez, Sergio Iván; M. de Aguiar, Marcus A.; Guimarães, Paulo R.; Reis, Sérgio F. dos
Año de publicación
2009
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
The notion of modularity has become a unifying principle to understand structural and functional aspects of biological organization at different levels of complexity. Recently, deciphering the modular organization of molecular systems has been greatly aided by network theory. Nevertheless, network theory is completely absent from the investigation of modularity of complex macroscopic phenotypes, a fundamental level of organization at which organisms experience and interact with the environment. Here, we used geometric descriptors of phenotypic variation to derive a network representation of a complex morphological structure, the mammalian mandible, in terms of nodes and links. Then, by integrating the network representation and description with random matrix theory, we uncovered a modular organization for the mammalian mandible, which deviates significantly from an equivalent random network. The modules revealed by the network analysis correspond to the four morphogenetic units recognized for the mammalian mandible on a developmental basis. Furthermore, these modules are known to be affected only by particular genes and are also functionally differentiated. This study shows that the powerful formalism of network theory can be applied to the discovery of modules in complex phenotypes and opens the possibility of an integrated approach to the study of modularity at all levels of organizational complexity.
Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo
Materia
Ciencias Naturales
Geometric morphometrics
Correlation networks
Variational modularity
Simulated annealing
Mammalian mandible
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Repositorio
SEDICI (UNLP)
Institución
Universidad Nacional de La Plata
OAI Identificador
oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/147172

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network_name_str SEDICI (UNLP)
spelling Searching for Modular Structure in Complex Phenotypes: Inferences from Network TheoryPérez, Sergio IvánM. de Aguiar, Marcus A.Guimarães, Paulo R.Reis, Sérgio F. dosCiencias NaturalesGeometric morphometricsCorrelation networksVariational modularitySimulated annealingMammalian mandibleThe notion of modularity has become a unifying principle to understand structural and functional aspects of biological organization at different levels of complexity. Recently, deciphering the modular organization of molecular systems has been greatly aided by network theory. Nevertheless, network theory is completely absent from the investigation of modularity of complex macroscopic phenotypes, a fundamental level of organization at which organisms experience and interact with the environment. Here, we used geometric descriptors of phenotypic variation to derive a network representation of a complex morphological structure, the mammalian mandible, in terms of nodes and links. Then, by integrating the network representation and description with random matrix theory, we uncovered a modular organization for the mammalian mandible, which deviates significantly from an equivalent random network. The modules revealed by the network analysis correspond to the four morphogenetic units recognized for the mammalian mandible on a developmental basis. Furthermore, these modules are known to be affected only by particular genes and are also functionally differentiated. This study shows that the powerful formalism of network theory can be applied to the discovery of modules in complex phenotypes and opens the possibility of an integrated approach to the study of modularity at all levels of organizational complexity.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo2009-11-17info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionArticulohttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdf416-422http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/147172enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/0071-3260info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1934-2845info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1007/s11692-009-9074-7info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)reponame:SEDICI (UNLP)instname:Universidad Nacional de La Platainstacron:UNLP2025-09-29T11:32:31Zoai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/147172Institucionalhttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/Universidad públicaNo correspondehttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/oai/snrdalira@sedici.unlp.edu.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:13292025-09-29 11:32:32.044SEDICI (UNLP) - Universidad Nacional de La Platafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Searching for Modular Structure in Complex Phenotypes: Inferences from Network Theory
title Searching for Modular Structure in Complex Phenotypes: Inferences from Network Theory
spellingShingle Searching for Modular Structure in Complex Phenotypes: Inferences from Network Theory
Pérez, Sergio Iván
Ciencias Naturales
Geometric morphometrics
Correlation networks
Variational modularity
Simulated annealing
Mammalian mandible
title_short Searching for Modular Structure in Complex Phenotypes: Inferences from Network Theory
title_full Searching for Modular Structure in Complex Phenotypes: Inferences from Network Theory
title_fullStr Searching for Modular Structure in Complex Phenotypes: Inferences from Network Theory
title_full_unstemmed Searching for Modular Structure in Complex Phenotypes: Inferences from Network Theory
title_sort Searching for Modular Structure in Complex Phenotypes: Inferences from Network Theory
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Pérez, Sergio Iván
M. de Aguiar, Marcus A.
Guimarães, Paulo R.
Reis, Sérgio F. dos
author Pérez, Sergio Iván
author_facet Pérez, Sergio Iván
M. de Aguiar, Marcus A.
Guimarães, Paulo R.
Reis, Sérgio F. dos
author_role author
author2 M. de Aguiar, Marcus A.
Guimarães, Paulo R.
Reis, Sérgio F. dos
author2_role author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Ciencias Naturales
Geometric morphometrics
Correlation networks
Variational modularity
Simulated annealing
Mammalian mandible
topic Ciencias Naturales
Geometric morphometrics
Correlation networks
Variational modularity
Simulated annealing
Mammalian mandible
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv The notion of modularity has become a unifying principle to understand structural and functional aspects of biological organization at different levels of complexity. Recently, deciphering the modular organization of molecular systems has been greatly aided by network theory. Nevertheless, network theory is completely absent from the investigation of modularity of complex macroscopic phenotypes, a fundamental level of organization at which organisms experience and interact with the environment. Here, we used geometric descriptors of phenotypic variation to derive a network representation of a complex morphological structure, the mammalian mandible, in terms of nodes and links. Then, by integrating the network representation and description with random matrix theory, we uncovered a modular organization for the mammalian mandible, which deviates significantly from an equivalent random network. The modules revealed by the network analysis correspond to the four morphogenetic units recognized for the mammalian mandible on a developmental basis. Furthermore, these modules are known to be affected only by particular genes and are also functionally differentiated. This study shows that the powerful formalism of network theory can be applied to the discovery of modules in complex phenotypes and opens the possibility of an integrated approach to the study of modularity at all levels of organizational complexity.
Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo
description The notion of modularity has become a unifying principle to understand structural and functional aspects of biological organization at different levels of complexity. Recently, deciphering the modular organization of molecular systems has been greatly aided by network theory. Nevertheless, network theory is completely absent from the investigation of modularity of complex macroscopic phenotypes, a fundamental level of organization at which organisms experience and interact with the environment. Here, we used geometric descriptors of phenotypic variation to derive a network representation of a complex morphological structure, the mammalian mandible, in terms of nodes and links. Then, by integrating the network representation and description with random matrix theory, we uncovered a modular organization for the mammalian mandible, which deviates significantly from an equivalent random network. The modules revealed by the network analysis correspond to the four morphogenetic units recognized for the mammalian mandible on a developmental basis. Furthermore, these modules are known to be affected only by particular genes and are also functionally differentiated. This study shows that the powerful formalism of network theory can be applied to the discovery of modules in complex phenotypes and opens the possibility of an integrated approach to the study of modularity at all levels of organizational complexity.
publishDate 2009
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2009-11-17
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Articulo
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
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status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/147172
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/147172
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/0071-3260
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1934-2845
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1007/s11692-009-9074-7
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
416-422
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:SEDICI (UNLP)
instname:Universidad Nacional de La Plata
instacron:UNLP
reponame_str SEDICI (UNLP)
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instname_str Universidad Nacional de La Plata
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repository.name.fl_str_mv SEDICI (UNLP) - Universidad Nacional de La Plata
repository.mail.fl_str_mv alira@sedici.unlp.edu.ar
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