Stress, chemocommunication, and the physiological hypothesis of mutation

The review considers stress as a physiological state of the organism, affecting the cellular, genomic, and population levels. Literature data and cytogenetic studies by the author support basic statements of the physiological hypothesis of mutation, which was advanced as early as in the 1940s. Studies of pheromonal effects in germline and somatic cells of the house mouse demonstrated the role of olfactory stressors in generating genetic variation in microevolutionary changes.