New Frontiers for Organismal Biology

Abstract

Understanding how complex organisms function and interact as integrated units with their environment is a long-standing challenge in biology. To address this challenge, organismal biology aims to reveal general organizing principles of physiological systems and behavior-in particular, in complex multicellular animals. Organismal biology also focuses on the role of individual variability in the evolutionary maintenance of diversity. To broadly advance these frontiers, cross-compatibility of experimental designs, methodological approaches, and data interpretation pipelines represents a key prerequisite. It is now possible to rapidly and systematically analyze complete genomes to elucidate genetic variation associated with traits and conditions that define individuals, populations, and species. However, genetic variation alone does not explain the varied individual physiology and behavior of complex organisms. We propose that such emergent properties of complex organisms can best be explained through a renewed emphasis on the context and life-history dependence of individual phenotypes as a to complement genetic data.

Genomics: moving behavioural ecology beyond the phenotypic gambit

“…Many resources are now available online, including statistical tools for data analysis and tools to identify genetic homology, associate genes with functional categories and perform basic gene expression association analyses (Blankenberg et al, 2010; Giardine et al, 2005; Goecks, Nekrutenko, Taylor, & Galaxy, 2010). Other recent reviews discuss some additional tools necessary to achieve the general goals of integrative biology, including technological and community development (Kültz et al, 2013; Losos et al, 2013; Robinson et al, 2010). Behavioural ecologists can benefit from the infrastructure surrounding this rapidly advancing field.…”

“…This perspective emphasizes the fact that the genome, like behaviour, is both heritable and environmentally responsive (Flint, 2003; Mackay et al, 2005; Robinson, 2004). Second, genomics has the tools to sequence or measure the expression of thousands of genes simultaneously, which has given researchers the ability to experimentally account for the long-known fact that behaviours often involve many genes of small effect that interact in complex ways (Flint, 2003; Kültz et al, 2013; Robinson, Fernald, & Clayton, 2008; Sokolowski, 2001). These advances, along with the expansion of genomic resources for nonmodel organisms, create an opportunity for behavioural ecologists to apply a genomic perspective to their research questions.…”

Ant-fungal species combinations engineer physiological activity of fungus gardens

“…One of the larger mysteries is understanding how such complex organisms maintain homeostasis and are able to function as distinct units (Douglas, 2010;Kültz et al, 2013;McFall-Ngai et al, 2013). Of the numerous examples of such complexity, the fungus-gardening insects have evolved obligate macro-symbioses with specific clades of fungi, and use fungal symbionts essentially as an external digestive organ that allows the insect to thrive on otherwise non-digestible substrates, such as structural carbohydrates of plants (e.g.…”

Quantitative Molecular Phenotyping of Gill Remodeling in a Cichlid Fish Responding to Salinity Stress

“…3B). Although the cause for this difference is not known for the present study the existence of such individual variation and their importance for evolutionary processes is increasingly being emphasized (40).…”