---
_id: '1827'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Bow-tie or hourglass structure is a common architectural feature found in
    many biological systems. A bow-tie in a multi-layered structure occurs when intermediate
    layers have much fewer components than the input and output layers. Examples include
    metabolism where a handful of building blocks mediate between multiple input nutrients
    and multiple output biomass components, and signaling networks where information
    from numerous receptor types passes through a small set of signaling pathways
    to regulate multiple output genes. Little is known, however, about how bow-tie
    architectures evolve. Here, we address the evolution of bow-tie architectures
    using simulations of multi-layered systems evolving to fulfill a given input-output
    goal. We find that bow-ties spontaneously evolve when the information in the evolutionary
    goal can be compressed. Mathematically speaking, bow-ties evolve when the rank
    of the input-output matrix describing the evolutionary goal is deficient. The
    maximal compression possible (the rank of the goal) determines the size of the
    narrowest part of the network—that is the bow-tie. A further requirement is that
    a process is active to reduce the number of links in the network, such as product-rule
    mutations, otherwise a non-bow-tie solution is found in the evolutionary simulations.
    This offers a mechanism to understand a common architectural principle of biological
    systems, and a way to quantitate the effective rank of the goals under which they
    evolved.
article_processing_charge: No
author:
- first_name: Tamar
  full_name: Friedlander, Tamar
  id: 36A5845C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Friedlander
- first_name: Avraham
  full_name: Mayo, Avraham
  last_name: Mayo
- first_name: Tsvi
  full_name: Tlusty, Tsvi
  last_name: Tlusty
- first_name: Uri
  full_name: Alon, Uri
  last_name: Alon
citation:
  ama: Friedlander T, Mayo A, Tlusty T, Alon U. Evolution of bow-tie architectures
    in biology. <i>PLoS Computational Biology</i>. 2015;11(3). doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004055">10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004055</a>
  apa: Friedlander, T., Mayo, A., Tlusty, T., &#38; Alon, U. (2015). Evolution of
    bow-tie architectures in biology. <i>PLoS Computational Biology</i>. Public Library
    of Science. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004055">https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004055</a>
  chicago: Friedlander, Tamar, Avraham Mayo, Tsvi Tlusty, and Uri Alon. “Evolution
    of Bow-Tie Architectures in Biology.” <i>PLoS Computational Biology</i>. Public
    Library of Science, 2015. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004055">https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004055</a>.
  ieee: T. Friedlander, A. Mayo, T. Tlusty, and U. Alon, “Evolution of bow-tie architectures
    in biology,” <i>PLoS Computational Biology</i>, vol. 11, no. 3. Public Library
    of Science, 2015.
  ista: Friedlander T, Mayo A, Tlusty T, Alon U. 2015. Evolution of bow-tie architectures
    in biology. PLoS Computational Biology. 11(3).
  mla: Friedlander, Tamar, et al. “Evolution of Bow-Tie Architectures in Biology.”
    <i>PLoS Computational Biology</i>, vol. 11, no. 3, Public Library of Science,
    2015, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004055">10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004055</a>.
  short: T. Friedlander, A. Mayo, T. Tlusty, U. Alon, PLoS Computational Biology 11
    (2015).
date_created: 2018-12-11T11:54:14Z
date_published: 2015-03-23T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2025-09-23T08:43:16Z
day: '23'
ddc:
- '576'
department:
- _id: GaTk
doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004055
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
  isi:
  - '000352195700006'
file:
- access_level: open_access
  checksum: b8aa66f450ff8de393014b87ec7d2efb
  content_type: application/pdf
  creator: system
  date_created: 2018-12-12T10:15:39Z
  date_updated: 2020-07-14T12:45:17Z
  file_id: '5161'
  file_name: IST-2016-452-v1+1_journal.pcbi.1004055.pdf
  file_size: 1811647
  relation: main_file
file_date_updated: 2020-07-14T12:45:17Z
fulldoi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004055
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '        11'
isi: 1
issue: '3'
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
month: '03'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
project:
- _id: 25681D80-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
  call_identifier: FP7
  grant_number: '291734'
  name: International IST Postdoc Fellowship Programme
publication: PLoS Computational Biology
publication_status: published
publisher: Public Library of Science
publist_id: '5278'
pubrep_id: '452'
quality_controlled: '1'
related_material:
  record:
  - id: '9718'
    relation: research_data
    status: public
  - id: '9773'
    relation: research_data
    status: public
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Evolution of bow-tie architectures in biology
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 317138e5-6ab7-11ef-aa6d-ffef3953e345
volume: 11
year: '2015'
...