Nested structure acquired through simple evolutionary process.

Nested structure, which is non-random, controls cooperation dynamics and biodiversity in plant-animal mutualistic networks. This structural pattern has been explained in a static (non-growth) network models. However, evolutionary processes might also influence the formation of such a structural pattern. We thereby propose an evolving network model for plant-animal interactions and show that non-random patterns such as nested structure and heterogeneous connectivity are both qualitatively and quantitatively predicted through simple evolutionary processes. This finding implies that network models can be simplified by considering evolutionary processes, and also that another explanation exists for the emergence of non-random patterns and might provide more comprehensible insights into the formation of plant-animal mutualistic networks from the evolutionary perspective.

[1]  Masanori Arita,et al.  Heterogeneous distribution of metabolites across plant species , 2009, 0903.2883.

[2]  S. N. Dorogovtsev,et al.  Size-dependent degree distribution of a scale-free growing network. , 2001, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[3]  Serguei Saavedra,et al.  A simple model of bipartite cooperation for ecological and organizational networks , 2009, Nature.

[4]  Jonathan F Wendel,et al.  Polyploidy and Genome Evolution in Plants This Review Comes from a Themed Issue on Genome Studies and Molecular Genetics Edited , 2022 .

[5]  J. Bascompte,et al.  Effects of phenotypic complementarity and phylogeny on the nested structure of mutualistic networks , 2007 .

[6]  Kim Sneppen,et al.  Gene duplication models for directed networks with limits on growth , 2007 .

[7]  Miguel A. Rodríguez-Gironés,et al.  A new algorithm to calculate the nestedness temperature of presence–absence matrices , 2006 .

[8]  Jordi Bascompte,et al.  Non-random coextinctions in phylogenetically structured mutualistic networks , 2007, Nature.

[9]  Jordi Bascompte,et al.  The architecture of mutualistic networks minimizes competition and increases biodiversity , 2009, Nature.

[10]  J. Harborne,et al.  Advances in flavonoid research since 1992. , 2000, Phytochemistry.

[11]  T. Garland,et al.  Phylogenetic approaches in comparative physiology , 2005, Journal of Experimental Biology.

[12]  A. Barabasi,et al.  Network biology: understanding the cell's functional organization , 2004, Nature Reviews Genetics.

[13]  Jordi Bascompte,et al.  Build-up mechanisms determining the topology of mutualistic networks. , 2007, Journal of theoretical biology.

[14]  R. Guimerà,et al.  QUANTITATIVE PATTERNS IN THE STRUCTURE OF MODEL AND EMPIRICAL FOOD WEBS , 2004, q-bio/0401023.

[15]  Carlos J. Melián,et al.  The nested assembly of plant–animal mutualistic networks , 2003, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[16]  Tatsuya Akutsu,et al.  A Bipartite Graph Based Model of Protein Domain Networks , 2009, Complex.

[17]  A. Vázquez.  Growing network with local rules: preferential attachment, clustering hierarchy, and degree correlations. , 2002, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[18]  J. Bascompte,et al.  Invariant properties in coevolutionary networks of plant-animal interactions , 2002 .