It has been speculated that such heterogeneous production of signaling molecules could be advantageous for the whole population because it allows for a division of labor
between signal producers and non-producers, or because the creation of
phenotypic diversification provides greater evolutionary flexibility and enables populations to adapt more rapidly to environmental
change.
Finally, transformation may provide a general approach to the analysis of complex heritable phenotypes by permitting the distinction
between phenotypic changes without concomitant
changes in DNA and functional genetic rearrangements.