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Epistasis

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Evolutionary Developmental Biology

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Abstract

Epistasis is broadly synonymous with gene interaction, referring to cases in which the effects of changing a gene depend on the state of other genes. Beyond this, the term has acquired a number of different technical and nontechnical meanings, which has led to confusion and misunderstanding in communication across disciplines. Clear communication about epistasis is particularly pertinent in evolutionary developmental biology both because of the relevance of epistasis to some of its key research questions such as the evolution of evolvability and canalization, and because evodevo acts as a trading zone for cross-disciplinary communication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, CEES and EVOGENE, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Thomas F. Hansen

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  1. Thomas F. Hansen
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Correspondence to Thomas F. Hansen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The KLI Institute, Klosterneuburg, Austria

    Laura Nuno de la Rosa

  2. The KLI Institute, Klosterneuburg, Austria

    Gerd Müller

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Hansen, T.F. (2016). Epistasis. In: Nuno de la Rosa, L., Müller, G. (eds) Evolutionary Developmental Biology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33038-9_53-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33038-9_53-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-33038-9

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