Grand challenges in evolutionary developmental biology

Minelli, Alessandro

doi:10.3389/fevo.2014.00085

Cited by 28 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 134 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Chromosomal speciation is a complementary concept to the better known speciation by changes in allele frequency distribution and can result in the almost instantaneous production of new species and phenotypic novelty within one generation [90–92]. This “saltational speciation” or “saltational evolution” [93–95] has largely been ignored by gradualism-based Modern Synthesis, which may be due to its rarity in animals, the lack of mechanistic understanding and the dearth of suitable models. Marbled crayfish represents a contemporary animal example of autopolyploid speciation, which likely started about 20-30 generations ago.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The marbled crayfish as a paradigm for saltational speciation by autopolyploidy and parthenogenesis in animals

Vogt

Falckenhayn

Schrimpf

et al. 2015

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The parthenogenetic all-female marbled crayfish is a novel research model and potent invader of freshwater ecosystems. It is a triploid descendant of the sexually reproducing slough crayfish, Procambarus fallax, but its taxonomic status has remained unsettled. By cross-breeding experiments and parentage analysis we show here that marbled crayfish and P. fallax are reproductively separated. Both crayfish copulate readily, suggesting that the reproductive barrier is set at the cytogenetic rather than the behavioural level. Analysis of complete mitochondrial genomes of marbled crayfish from laboratory lineages and wild populations demonstrates genetic identity and indicates a single origin. Flow cytometric comparison of DNA contents of haemocytes and analysis of nuclear microsatellite loci confirm triploidy and suggest autopolyploidisation as its cause. Global DNA methylation is significantly reduced in marbled crayfish implying the involvement of molecular epigenetic mechanisms in its origination. Morphologically, both crayfish are very similar but growth and fecundity are considerably larger in marbled crayfish, making it a different animal with superior fitness. These data and the high probability of a divergent future evolution of the marbled crayfish and P. fallax clusters suggest that marbled crayfish should be considered as an independent asexual species. Our findings also establish the P. fallax-marbled crayfish pair as a novel paradigm for rare chromosomal speciation by autopolyploidy and parthenogenesis in animals and for saltational evolution in general.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The marbled crayfish as a paradigm for saltational speciation by autopolyploidy and parthenogenesis in animals

Vogt

Falckenhayn

Schrimpf

et al. 2015

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Furthermore, the challenges and the efforts to fit "regeneration" into a phylogenetic tree lead to more general challenges linked to evolutionary biology itself, for instance the definition of homologies, the circumscription of a character, the delineation of units of selection, and the targeting of the level of selection. And ultimately, given the difficulty of pinning down exact origins of regeneration, the comparative study of these events among different species should be outlined in terms of evolutionary trajectories rather than origins (Minelli, 2015), especially if one of the aims directing regenerative biology is to learn something about the limited facility our species has.…”

Section: An Evo-devo Approach To Regenerationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconsidering regeneration in metazoans: an evo-devo approach

Tiozzo

Copley

2015

Front. Ecol. Evol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Regeneration of body structures is an ability widely but unevenly distributed amongst the animal kingdom. Understanding regenerative biology in metazoans means understanding the multiplicity of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that lead to the differentiation, morphogenesis and ultimately the development of a particular regenerating unit. In this manuscript we critically assess the evolutionary considerations suggesting that regeneration is an ancestral trait rather than a mechanism independently evolved in different taxa. As a general method to test evolutionary hypothesis on regeneration, we propose mechanistically dissecting the regenerative processes according to its conserved chronological steps: wound healing, mobilization of cell precursors and morphogenesis. We then suggest interpreting regenerative biology from an evo-devo perspective, proposing a possible theoretical framework and experimental approaches without necessarily invoking a common origin or only multiple losses of regenerative capabilities.

show abstract

“…Specifically, the view that traits distributed over the entire animal life cycle can be targeted by natural selection has gained additional significance in light of these developments (Minelli, ). While the importance of considering the entire life cycle has long been recognized in evolution (Bonner, ; Werner, ), an adult‐centric view has nonetheless persisted in developmental biology (Minelli, , ). A focus on the adult stage and the neglect of others is undermined by knowledge that most animal species undergo some form of metamorphosis (Werner, ), and that complex life cycles composed of discrete developmental stages – and associated shifts in ecology – are the norm (Moran, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why grow up?Aperspective on insect strategies to avoid metamorphosis

McMahon

Hayward

2016

Ecological Entomology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. 1. Insects with complete metamorphosis (holometaboly) are extremely successful, constituting over 60% of all described animal species. Complete metamorphosis confers significant advantages because it enables organisms to optimise life-history components through temporal partitioning, and thereby to exploit multiple ecological niches. Yet holometaboly can also impose costs, and several lineages have evolved life cycle modifications to avoid complete metamorphosis.2. In this review, we discuss different strategies that have evolved that result in the loss of complete metamorphosis (type I and type II paedomorphosis). In addition, the ecological pressures and developmental modifications that facilitate this avoidance are considered, as well as the importance of life cycle complexity in life-history evolution.3. Interestingly, only female holometabolous insects have entirely avoided complete metamorphosis, and it is always the ancestrally juvenile morphology that is retained. These findings point to a strong sex-biased trade-off between investment in reproduction and development. While the loss of complete metamorphosis in females has occurred independently on several occasions across holometabolous insects, only a small number of species possessing this ability have been described. 4. Thus, complete metamorphosis, which originated only once in insects, appears to have been almost fully retained. This indicates that significant modifications to the holometabolan metamorphic ground plan are highly constrained, and suggests that the transition to complete metamorphosis is evolutionarily irreversible.

show abstract

Grand challenges in evolutionary developmental biology

Abstract: Keywords: internalized polyphenism, temporal and spatial boundaries of development, evolution of the developmental role of epigenetic mechanisms, exaptation of developmental processes, saltational evolution, evolutionary transitions, paramorphism

Cited by 28 publications

References 134 publications

The marbled crayfish as a paradigm for saltational speciation by autopolyploidy and parthenogenesis in animals

The marbled crayfish as a paradigm for saltational speciation by autopolyploidy and parthenogenesis in animals

Reconsidering regeneration in metazoans: an evo-devo approach

Why grow up?Aperspective on insect strategies to avoid metamorphosis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About