Evolution of Developmental Pathways

Zusatztext The emphasis on the modularity of gene networks and of developmental pathways, and their role in evolutionary change, is an important rejoinder to lingering notions of 'one gene-one structure,' or 'the gene for teeth.' Understanding the evolutionary divergence of genes and developmental processes downstream of the conserved genes or events that initiate developmental pathways is one on the next great challenges for evo-devo, a challenge made easier by the analysis provided by Adam Wilkins." Informationen zum Autor Adam Wilkins is Editor of the journal BioEssays. He earned a B.A. from Reed College, and a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Washington, and completed post-doctoral fellowships at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Wisconsin. A full-time academic until 1983, he has since held visiting professorships or lectureships at the University of Washington, the University of Wisconsin, and the National University of Singapore. Dr. Wilkins is the author of two editions of Genetic Analysis of Animal Development (John Wiley & Sons, 1986 & 1993), and co-editor of Molecular Evolution (Jones and Bartlett, 1984, with E. A. Terzaghi and D. Penny) and Molecular Model Systems in the Lepidoptera (Cambridge University Press, 1995, with M. Goldsmith). His particular research interest, at present, is the evolution of sex determination pathways. Klappentext A principal aim of this book is to introduce upper-level students and biologists in other disciplines to this field! and to present it within its larger context. The book also suggests a useful general framework for thinking about developmental evolution. The book's organising concept is that of the genetic pathway! the sequence of requisite genetic and molecular activities that underlie a developmental process. From this perspective! the author explores the nature of the genetic! molecular! and selectional events that alter these pathways! yielding developmental change. Zusammenfassung Published by Sinauer Associates, an imprint of Oxford University Press. The contemporary field of evolutionary developmental biology is still a new subdiscipline of evolutionary biology, but it deals with some very old questions: how shape and form in complex organisms change during evolution. Integral to this subject are developmental genetics and molecular biology, and, increasingly, systematics, paleontology, and population genetics as well. The integration of the latter three subjects into evolutionary developmental biology is still in its early stages, however. A principal aim of this book is to introduce upper-level students and biologists in other disciplines to this field, and to present it within its larger context.Despite the excitement about "evo-devo," it is a field that still lacks a set of formal principles of the sort that, for example, inform and give shape to population genetics and systematics. The second principal purpose of this book, therefore, is to suggest a useful general framework for thinking about developmental evolution. The book's organizing concept is that of the genetic pathway, the sequence of requisite genetic and molecular activities that underlie a developmental process. From this perspective, the author explores the nature of the genetic, molecular, and selectional events that alter these pathways, yielding developmental change.The book is organized into three major sections. The first five chapters deal with the history of the field, the data it employs, and basic ideas that inform current research. The next three chapters are devoted to case studies in developmental evolution, starting with examples of currently favored model systems (e.g., Drosophila melanogaster) and building outward. Six subsequent chapters address questions and problems in the field and key questions for the future. Three appendices on specialized topics and a glossary complete the book. Inhaltsverzeic...

List of contents

PART I: Context and Foundations.- Evolution and Embryology: A Brief History of a Complex Pas de Deux.- Information Sources for Reconstructing Developmental Evolution I: Fossils.- Information Sources for Reconstructing Developmental Evolution II: Comparative Molecular Studies.- Genetic Pathways and Networks in Development.- Conserved Genes and Functions in Animal Development.- PART II: Case Studies in Pathway Evolution.- Evolving Developmental Pathways I: Sex Determination.- Evolving Developmental Pathways II: Segmental Patterning in Insects.- Evolving Developmental Pathways III: Two Organ 'Fields,' The Nematode Vulva and the Tetrapod Limb.- PART III: Conundrums.- Genetic Source Materials for Developmental Evolution.- Costs and Constraints: Factors that Retard and Channel Developmental Evolution.- On Growth and Form: The Developmental and Evolutionary Genetics of Morphogenesis.- Speciation and Developmental Evolution.- Metazoan Origins and the Beginnings of Complex Animal Evolution.- The Coming Evolution of Evolutionary Developmental Biology.- Appendix 1: Genetic Nomenclature.- Appendix 2: Cladistics.- Appendix 3: Molecular Clocks.- Glossary.- References.

Product details

• Authors: Adam S. Wilkins, Wilkins Adam S.
• Publisher: Sinauer Associates
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 12.03.2002
• EAN: 9780878939169
• ISBN: 978-0-87893-916-9
• No. of pages: 575
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Biology > General, dictionaries; Evolution, Development, SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Evolution, Biology, Developmental biology, Cladistics