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 Developmental Biology: the Interaction of Developmental Biology,Evolutionary Biology,Paleontology, and Genomics

Paleontological Journal - Evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) formed due to the interactions of evolutionary biology, paleontology, and comparative genomics, analyzes the interrelations...     

Developmental and Evolutionary Aspects of the Neurohypophysis

Although phylogenetic studies of neurohypophysial principlesare well advanced, studies of their development are rare. Fetalmammals have been shown to have unusually high vasopressor/oxytocicratios in their pituitaries. Paper chromatography of extractsfrom pituitaries of fetal sheep and fetal seals (Callorhinusursinus) indicated the presence of AVT, in addition to AVP andoxytocin. This was confirmed by the pharmacological and chemicalanalysis of AVT, purified from fetal seal pituitaries. The presenceof AVT suggested a "recapitulation" of a principle previouslyknown only in sub-mammalian vertebrates. Studies of ammocoetelarvae and adult lampreys (Lampetra nchardsoni) showed the presenceof AVT, but there was no evidence for any "recapitulation" ofan "early" neutral principle. It seemed possible that an apparentrecapitulation might occur only when the principle had a usein fetal life. Therefore the possible actions of AVT (and AVP)in the mammalian fetus (guinea pig) were studied. AVT and AVPwere shown to act on the isolated amnion to slow, and even reversefetal-maternal water movement. AVP acted on the yolk sac, thefetal skin and the fetal bladder to increase water flow inwards,towards the fetus. These actions suggested an extraplacentalmechanism for supplying water to the fetus and its environment,through the extraembryonic membranes. These actions were reminiscentof those known in the anurans. The apparent success of the conceptof recapitulation, in both the molecular and functional fields,may have been fortuitous. However, the results suggest thatphylogenetic considerations may well be useful in understandingthe physiology of the mammal during fetal life.     

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.     

Evolutionary Modifications of the Spiralian Developmental Program

SYNOPSIS. The Spiralia, an assemblage of phyla united by theirstereotypic pattern of early embryonic cell divisions (spiralcleavage), is an interesting group in which to investigate theevolution of development. This paper examines modificationsof developmental mechanisms within the Spiralia with emphasison the basallybranching forms. Although demonstrating a notabledegree of evolutionary conservation, the equal quartet cleavagepattern, which appears to be the ancestral condition, nonethelessexhibits modifications within the various spiralian groups,such as unequal cleavage, changes in cell size and rate of division,formation of two rather than four quadrants (duet spiral cleavage),and in extreme cases the loss of any trace of the spiral pattern.While the cell lineages of spiralians are remarkably conserved,one can discern evolutionary changes, for example in the cellsthat give rise to mesodenn. Studies of blastomere specificationin many spiralian groups and analyses of axis determinationindicate that embryos with equal versus unequal cleavage typicallyuse different determinative mechanisms to establish cell fatesand the dorsoventral axis. These properties are establishedearly in species exhibiting unequal cleavage. While previousexperiments suggested that equal cleavage was associated withlate specification, there is now evidence of precocious specificationof quadrant fates in some equal-cleaving species, such as thenemerteans and the polyclad turbellarians     

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.     

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.     

Evolutionary Modification of Echinoid Sperm Correlates with Developmental Mode

A significant fraction of living sea urchin species have completely or partially eliminated the pluteus larval stage and instead develop directly from embryo to adult. Direct developing sea urchins develop from large buoyant eggs. We present data to show that evolution of these large eggs is accompanied by the evolution of spermatozoa with elogate heads, in contrast with the conical sperm heads typical of most echinoids. Two congeneric Australian species, Heliocidaris tuberculata , which develops via a pluteus, and H. erythogramma , a direct developer, were investigated in detail. The sperm of H. erythrogramma have an elongate head (11 μm in length) as compared to the conical sperm head (5.6 μm) of H. tuberculata . Electrophoretic analysis of the sperm histones indicates that no unusual histones or protamines are associated with modified head morphology. Genome sizes were determined by flow cytometry. H. erythrogramma has a haploid genome size of 1.3 pg as compared to a haploid genome size of 0.95 pg for H. tuberculata . Other direct developing echinoids have elongate sperm heads, and co-evolution of gametes is indicated as a common feature of evolution of direct development in echinoids. The most extreme case, the direct developing cidaroid sea urchin, Phyllacanthus parvispinus , possesses the longest and narrowest sperm head (20 μm × 1 μm) ever observed in an echinoid.     

Developmental and Evolutionary History Affect Survival in Stressful Environments

The world is increasingly impacted by a variety of stressors that have the potential to differentially influence life history stages of organisms. Organisms have evolved to cope with some stressors, while with others they have little capacity. It is thus important to understand the effects of both developmental and evolutionary history on survival in stressful environments. We present evidence of the effects of both developmental and evolutionary history on survival of a freshwater vertebrate, the rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa) in an osmotically stressful environment. We compared the survival of larvae in either NaCl or MgCl₂ that were exposed to salinity either as larvae only or as embryos as well. Embryonic exposure to salinity led to greater mortality of newt larvae than larval exposure alone, and this reduced survival probability was strongly linked to the carry-over effect of stunted embryonic growth in salts. Larval survival was also dependent on the type of salt (NaCl or MgCl₂) the larvae were exposed to, and was lowest in MgCl₂, a widely-used chemical deicer that, unlike NaCl, amphibian larvae do not have an evolutionary history of regulating at high levels. Both developmental and evolutionary history are critical factors in determining survival in this stressful environment, a pattern that may have widespread implications for the survival of animals increasingly impacted by substances with which they have little evolutionary history.     

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。     

以发育模块重复征用和整合为基础的进化创新机制

进化新征的起源和分化是进化发育生物学研究的核心问题。通过对多细胞生物早期发育调控机制的比较分析,发现亲缘关系较远的生物所共有的一些形态特征受保守的发育调控程序调节（深同源性）。许多创新性状的发生是基于对预先存在的基因或发育调控模块的重复利用和整合。发育基因调控网络在结构和功能上高度模块化,因此不仅可以通过模块拆分和重复征用改变发育程式,而且也增强了调控网络自身的进化力。研究基因调控网络和发育系统的进化动态将有助于更深入地认识生物演化过程中创新性状发生和表型进化的分子机制。     

Routes to Child Language: Evolutionary and Developmental Precursors.

Routes to Child Language: Evolutionary and Developmental Precursors. Joanna Blake. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. 278 pp.