History of Evolutionary Developmental Biology

Russian Journal of Developmental Biology - Foundations of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) were laid by K. von Baer, the author of the law of embryonic similarity in various animal...     

Evolutionary Morphology, Innovation, and the Synthesis of Evolutionary and Developmental Biology

One foundational question in contemporarybiology is how to `rejoin evolution anddevelopment. The emerging research program(evolutionary developmental biology or`evo-devo) requires a meshing of disciplines,concepts, and explanations that have beendeveloped largely in independence over the pastcentury. In the attempt to comprehend thepresent separation between evolution anddevelopment much attention has been paid to thesplit between genetics and embryology in theearly part of the 20th century with itscodification in the exclusion of embryologyfrom the Modern Synthesis. This encourages acharacterization of evolutionary developmentalbiology as the marriage of evolutionary theoryand embryology via developmental genetics. Butthere remains a largely untold story about thesignificance of morphology and comparativeanatomy (also minimized in the ModernSynthesis). Functional and evolutionarymorphology are critical for understanding thedevelopment of a concept central toevolutionary developmental biology,evolutionary innovation. Highlighting thediscipline of morphology and the concepts ofinnovation and novelty provides an alternativeway of conceptualizing the `evo and the `devoto be synthesized.     

植物进化发育生物学的形成与研究进展

植物进化发育生物学是最近十几年来才兴起的一门学科, 它是进化发育生物学的主要分支之一。进化发育生物学的产生经历了进化生物学与胚胎学、遗传学和发育生物学的三次大的综合, 其历史可追溯到19世纪初冯.贝尔所创立的比较胚胎学。相关研究曾沉寂了近一个世纪, 直到20世纪80年代早期, 动物中homeobox基因被发现, 90年代初花发育的 ABC模型被提出, 加之对发育相关基因研究的不断深入, 才使基因型与表型联系了起来, 进而促进了进化发育生物学的飞速发展。目前进化发育生物学已成为21世纪生命科学领域的研究热点之一。本文详细阐述了进化发育生物学产生和发展的历程, 综述了最近十几年来植物进化发育生物学的主要研究进展。文中重点介绍了与植物发育密切相关的MADS-box基因在植物各大类群中的研究现状, 讨论了植物进化发育生物学领域的研究成果对花被演化、花对称性以及叶的进化等重要问题的启示。     

植物进化发育生物学的形成与研究进展

植物进化发育生物学是最近十几年来才兴起的一门学科,它是进化发育生物学的主要分支之一。进化发育生物学的产生经历了进化生物学与胚胎学、遗传学和发育生物学的三次大的综合,其历史可追溯到19世纪初冯.贝尔所创立的比较胚胎学。相关研究曾沉寂了近一个世纪,直到20世纪80年代早期,动物中homeobox基因被发现,90年代初花发育的ABC模型被提出,加之对发育相关基因研究的不断深入,才使基因型与表型联系了起来,进而促进了进化发育生物学的飞速发展。目前进化发育生物学已成为21世纪生命科学领域的研究热点之一。本文详细阐述了进化发育生物学产生和发展的历程,综述了最近十几年来植物进化发育生物学的主要研究进展。文中重点介绍了与植物发育密切相关的MADS-box基因在植物各大类群中的研究现状,讨论了植物进化发育生物学领域的研究成果对花被演化、花对称性以及叶的进化等重要问题的启示。     

Diachronic Biology Meets Evo-Devo: C. H. Waddington's Approach to Evolutionary Developmental Biology

Conrad Hal Waddington (1905–1975) did not respect thetraditional boundaries established between genetics, embryology,and evolutionary biology. Rather, he viewed them together asa "diachronic biology." In this diachronic biology, evolutionarychange was caused by heritable alterations in development. Stabilizingselection within the embryo was followed by normative selectionon the adult. To explain evolution, Waddington had to inventmany concepts and terms, some of which have retained their usageand some of which have not. In this paper I seek to explicateWaddington's ideas and evaluate their usefulness for contemporaryevolutionary developmental biology.     

Evolutionary Developmental Biology (Evo-Devo): Past, Present, and Future

Evolutionary developmental biology (evo–devo) is that part of biology concerned with how changes in embryonic development during single generations relate to the evolutionary changes that occur between generations. Charles Darwin argued for the importance of development (embryology) in understanding evolution. After the discovery in 1900 of Mendel’s research on genetics, however, any relationship between development and evolution was either regarded as unimportant for understanding the process(es) of evolution or as a black box into which it was hard to see. Research over the past two decades has opened that black box, revealing how studies in evo–devo highlight the mechanisms that link genes (the genotype) with structures (the phenotype). This is vitally important because genes do not make structures. Developmental processes make structures using road maps provided by genes, but using many other signals as well—physical forces such as mechanical stimulation, temperature of the environment, and interaction with chemical products produced by other species—often species in entirely different kingdoms as in interactions between bacteria and squid or between leaves and larvae (Greene Science 243:643–666, 1989). Not only do genes not make structures (the phenotype), but new properties and mechanisms emerge during embryonic development: genes are regulated differentially in different cells and places; aggregations of similar cells provide the cellular resources (modules) from which tissues and organs arise; modules and populations of differently differentiated cells interact to set development along particular tracks; and organisms interact with their environment and create their niche in that environment. Such interactions are often termed “epigenetic,” meaning that they direct gene activity using mechanisms that are not encoded in the DNA of the genes. This paper reviews the origins of evo–devo, how the field has changed over the past 30 years, evaluates the recognition of the importance for development and evolution of mechanisms that are not encoded in DNA, and evaluates what the future might bring for evo–devo. Although impossible to know, history tells us that we might expect more of the same; expansion of evo–devo into other areas of biology (ecology, physiology, behavior); absorption of evo–devo by evolution or a unification of biology in which evo–devo plays a major role.     

Scale-Free Biology: Integrating Evolutionary and Developmental Thinking

When the history of life on earth is viewed as a history of cell division, all of life becomes a single cell lineage. The growth and differentiation of this lineage in reciprocal interaction with its environment can be viewed as a developmental process; hence the evolution of life on earth can also be seen as the development of life on earth. Here, in reviewing this field, some potentially fruitful research directions suggested by this change in perspective are highlighted. Variation and selection become, for example, bidirectional information flows between scales, while the notions of “cooperation” and “competition” become scale relative. The language of communication, inference, and information processing becomes more useful than the language of causation to describe the interactions of both homogeneous and heterogeneous living systems at any scale. Emerging scale-free theoretical frameworks such as predictive coding and active inference provide conceptual tools for reconceptualizing biology as the study of a unified, multiscale dynamical system.     

Ecological Developmental Biology: Developmental Biology Meets the Real World1

The production of phenotype is regulated by differential gene expression. However, the regulators of gene expression need not all reside within the embryo. Environmental factors, such as temperature, photoperiod, diet, population density, or the presence of predators, can produce specific phenotypes, presumably by altering gene-expression patterns. The field of ecological developmental biology seeks to look at development in the real world of predators, competitors, and changing seasons. Ecological concerns had played a major role in the formation of experimental embryology, and they are returning as the need for knowledge about the effects of environmental change on embryos and larvae becomes crucial. This essay reviews some of the areas of ecological developmental biology, concentrating on new studies of Amphibia and Homo.     

Evolutionary Developmental Biology and Human Language Evolution: Constraints on Adaptation

A tension has long existed between those biologists who emphasize the importance of adaptation by natural selection and those who highlight the role of phylogenetic and developmental constraints on organismal form and function. This contrast has been particularly noticeable in recent debates concerning the evolution of human language. Darwin himself acknowledged the existence and importance of both of these, and a long line of biologists have followed him in seeing, in the concept of ??descent with modification??, a framework naturally able to incorporate both adaptation and constraint. Today, the integrated perspective of modern evolutionary developmental biology (??evo-devo??) allows a more subtle and pluralistic approach to these traditional questions, and has provided several examples where the traditional notion of ??constraint?? can be cashed out in specific, mechanistic terms. This integrated viewpoint is particularly relevant to the evolution of the multiple mechanisms underlying human language, because of the short time available for novel aspects of these mechanisms to evolve and be optimized. Comparative data indicate that many cognitive aspects of human language predate humans, suggesting that pre-adaptation and exaptation have played important roles in language evolution. Thus, substantial components of what many linguists call ??Universal Grammar?? predate language itself. However, at least some of these older mechanisms have been combined in ways that generate true novelty. I suggest that we can insightfully exploit major steps forward in our understanding of evolution and development, to gain a richer understanding of the principles that underlie human language evolution.     

Methodological Problems in Evolutionary Biology. XII. Against Evolutionary Ethics

Evolutionary ethics has recently become popular again. Some of its representatives elaborate new attempts to derive ethics from evolutionary biology. The attempts, like previous ones, fail because they commit the naturalistic fallacy. Premises from evolutionary biology together with normative premises also do not justify ethical principles. Other representatives argue that evolutionary considerations imply that ethics cannot be justified at all. Their arguments presuppose an unacceptable form of foundationalism. In principle, evolutionary biology might explain some aspects of morality, but in practice explanations are hard to come by. All this does not imply that evolutionary theory is irrelevant in normative settings. To the contrary, it may help us devise guidelines in environmental policy and health care policy. It is to be hoped that evolutionary ethicists will divert their research efforts to the elaboration of such guidelines.     

On the Evolutionary Developmental Biology of Speciation

The mainstream approaches to the study of speciation and clade diversification have extensively focused on genetic mechanisms and ecological contexts, while much less attention has been paid to the role of development. In this paper we provide materials to support the thesis that taking development into the picture of evolutionary processes can bring important insights on how species multiply and diversify. Evidence that developmentally entangled evolutionary factors are important in speciation comes from different lines of investigation that can be broadly grouped under three headings: evolvability, phenotypic plasticity, and phenology. Evolvability enters the scene through the complexity of the genotype-phenotype map, the developmental link between transmissible genetic information and selectable phenotypes. Phenotypic plasticity can act as a facilitator for speciation, promoting diversification at different stages of the speciation process, as well as generating novel targets and novel trade-offs for evolutionary processes. The formal inclusion of the developmental time axis in speciation models widens the scope for investigating the onset and/or reinforcement of reproductive barriers through a range of situations along an organism??s life cycle. Overall, developmental processes can contribute to speciation and diversification at different stages of the speciation process, at different levels of biological organization and along the organism??s whole life cycle.     

中国植物发育生物学若干重要领域的研究回顾

植物发育是指从种子萌发经过营养生长、开花与花器官发育、受精结果形成新一代的有序过程。每一个时期具有复杂的代谢和基因表达与调控网络。过去的数 10年中我国在该领域的研究取得了许多重要的进展 ,特别是近 10年来发育生物学已经从以往的以描述为主要特征发展到在分子水平上阐明发育控制的机理。花器官的发育研究是发育生物学研究最具突破性的领域 ,开花和营养器官的发育已经成为新的研究热点。本文按照植物发育的时间顺序 ,回顾了我国发育生物学若干重要领域的重要研究进展 ,并展望了基因组时代给发育生物学研究带来的新的机遇和研究平台     

中国植物发育生物学若干重要领域的研究回顾

植物发育是指从种子萌发经过营养生长、开花与花器官发育、受精结果形成新一代的有序过程.每一个时期具有复杂的代谢和基因表达与调控网络.过去的数10年中我国在该领域的研究取得了许多重要的进展,特别是近10年来发育生物学已经从以往的以描述为主要特征发展到在分子水平上阐明发育控制的机理.花器官的发育研究是发育生物学研究最具突破性的领域,开花和营养器官的发育已经成为新的研究热点.本文按照植物发育的时间顺序,回顾了我国发育生物学若干重要领域的重要研究进展,并展望了基因组时代给发育生物学研究带来的新的机遇和研究平台.     

Deconstructing Pancreas Developmental Biology

The relentless nature and increasing prevalence of human pancreatic diseases, in particular, diabetes mellitus and adenocarcinoma, has motivated further understanding of pancreas organogenesis. The pancreas is a multifunctional organ whose epithelial cells govern a diversity of physiologically vital endocrine and exocrine functions. The mechanisms governing the birth, differentiation, morphogenesis, growth, maturation, and maintenance of the endocrine and exocrine components in the pancreas have been discovered recently with increasing tempo. This includes recent studies unveiling mechanisms permitting unexpected flexibility in the developmental potential of immature and mature pancreatic cell subsets, including the ability to interconvert fates. In this article, we describe how classical cell biology, genetic analysis, lineage tracing, and embryological investigations are being complemented by powerful modern methods including epigenetic analysis, time-lapse imaging, and flow cytometry-based cell purification to dissect fundamental processes of pancreas development.     

车前属(Plantago L.)植物生态与进化生物学研究进展

车前属植物是理论生态学、生理生态学、进化生物学研究的理想材料。本文综述了近年来国内外学者在车前属生态学、进化生物学、系统分类学方面的研究概况。     

Ecological Developmental Biology: Interpreting Developmental Signs

Developmental biology is a theory of interpretation. Developmental signals are interpreted differently depending on the previous history of the responding cell. Thus, there is a context for the reception of a signal. While this conclusion is obvious during metamorphosis, when a single hormone instructs some cells to proliferate, some cells to differentiate, and other cells to die, it is commonplace during normal development. Paracrine factors such as BMP4 can induce apoptosis, proliferation, or differentiation depending upon the history of the responding cells. In addition, organisms have evolved to alter their development in response to differences in temperature, diet, the presence of predators, or the presence of competitors. This allows them to develop the phenotype, within the limits imposed by the genotype, best suited for the immediate habitat of the organism. Most developing organisms have also evolved to expect developmental signals from symbionts, and these organisms develop abnormally if the symbiont signals are not present. Thus Hoffmeyer’s “vertical semiotic system” of genetic communication and “horizontal semiotic system” of ecological communication are integrated during development.     

动物线粒体假基因的识别及其在进化生物学中的应用

在真菌、昆虫、无脊椎动物和脊椎动物等许多分类单元中,都已发现mtDNA序列的核转座现象。在PCR扩增时,往往同时扩增出mtDNA和细胞核中线粒体假基因(Numts),Numts混淆系统发育和群体遗传研究,得出错误的结果。本文综述了Numts的检查和避免的方法,以及在进化生物学研究中的应用进展。     

Heuristics and Biases in Evolutionary Biology

Approaching science by considering the epistemological virtues which scientists see as constitutive of good science, and the way these virtues trade-off against one another, makes it possible to capture action that may be lost by approaches which focus on either the theoretical or institutional level. Following Wimsatt (1984) I use the notion of heuristics and biases to help explore a case study from the history of biology. Early in the 20th century, mutation theorists and natural historians fought over the role that isolation plays in evolution. This debate was principally about whether replication was the central scientific virtue (and hence the ultimate goal of science to replace non-experimental evidence with experimental evidence) or whether consilience of inductions was the central virtue (and hence, as many kinds of evidence as possible should be pursued).