The Evolution of Multicellularity

The Evolution of Multicellularity PDF Author: Matthew D. Herron
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000542572
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 395

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Book Description
Among the most important innovations in the history of life is the transition from single-celled organisms to more complex, multicellular organisms. Multicellularity has evolved repeatedly across the tree of life, resulting in the evolution of new kinds of organisms that collectively constitute a significant portion of Earth’s biodiversity and have transformed the biosphere. This volume examines the origins and subsequent evolution of multicellularity, reviewing the types of multicellular groups that exist, their evolutionary relationships, the processes that led to their evolution, and the conceptual frameworks in which their evolution is understood. This important volume is intended to serve as a jumping-off point, stimulating further research by summarizing the topics that students and researchers of the evolution of multicellularity should be familiar with, and highlighting future research directions for the field.

The Evolution of Multicellularity

The Evolution of Multicellularity PDF Author: Matthew D. Herron
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000542572
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 395

Get Book Here

Book Description
Among the most important innovations in the history of life is the transition from single-celled organisms to more complex, multicellular organisms. Multicellularity has evolved repeatedly across the tree of life, resulting in the evolution of new kinds of organisms that collectively constitute a significant portion of Earth’s biodiversity and have transformed the biosphere. This volume examines the origins and subsequent evolution of multicellularity, reviewing the types of multicellular groups that exist, their evolutionary relationships, the processes that led to their evolution, and the conceptual frameworks in which their evolution is understood. This important volume is intended to serve as a jumping-off point, stimulating further research by summarizing the topics that students and researchers of the evolution of multicellularity should be familiar with, and highlighting future research directions for the field.

Multicellularity

Multicellularity PDF Author: Karl J. Niklas
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262333759
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
Scholars consider the origins and consequences of the evolution of multicellularity, addressing a range of organisms, experimental protocols, theoretical concepts, and philosophical issues. The evolution of multicellularity raises questions regarding genomic and developmental commonalities and discordances, selective advantages and disadvantages, physical determinants of development, and the origins of morphological novelties. It also represents a change in the definition of individuality, because a new organism emerges from interactions among single cells. This volume considers these and other questions, with contributions that explore the origins and consequences of the evolution of multicellularity, addressing a range of topics, organisms, and experimental protocols. Each section focuses on selected topics or particular lineages that present a significant insight or challenge. The contributors consider the fossil record of the paleontological circumstances in which animal multicellularity evolved; cooptation, recurrent patterns, modularity, and plausible pathways for multicellular evolution in plants; theoretical approaches to the amoebozoa and fungi (cellular slime molds having long provided a robust model system for exploring the evolution of multicellularity), plants, and animals; genomic toolkits of metazoan multicellularity; and philosophical aspects of the meaning of individuality in light of multicellular evolution. Contributors Maja Adamska, Argyris Arnellos, Juan A. Arias, Eugenio Azpeitia, Mariana Benítez, Adriano Bonforti, John Tyler Bonner, Peter L. Conlin, A. Keith Dunker, Salva Duran-Nebreda, Ana E. Escalante, Valeria Hernández-Hernández, Kunihiko Kaneko, Andrew H. Knoll, Stephan G. König, Daniel J. G. Lahr, Ottoline Leyser, Alan C. Love, Raul Montañez, Emilio Mora van Cauwelaert, Alvaro Moreno, Vidyanand Nanjundiah, Aurora M. Nedelcu, Stuart A. Newman, Karl J. Niklas, William C. Ratcliff, Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo, Ricard Solé

The Evolution of Multicellularity

The Evolution of Multicellularity PDF Author: Matthew D. Herron
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000542556
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
Among the most important innovations in the history of life is the transition from single-celled organisms to more complex, multicellular organisms. Multicellularity has evolved repeatedly across the tree of life, resulting in the evolution of new kinds of organisms that collectively constitute a significant portion of Earth’s biodiversity and have transformed the biosphere. This volume examines the origins and subsequent evolution of multicellularity, reviewing the types of multicellular groups that exist, their evolutionary relationships, the processes that led to their evolution, and the conceptual frameworks in which their evolution is understood. This important volume is intended to serve as a jumping-off point, stimulating further research by summarizing the topics that students and researchers of the evolution of multicellularity should be familiar with, and highlighting future research directions for the field. Chapter 13 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Dictyostelium

Dictyostelium PDF Author: Richard H. Kessin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521583640
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
Dictyostelia are soil amoebae capable of extraordinary feats of survival, motility, chemotaxis, and development. Characterised by their ability to transform from a single-celled organism into an elaborate assemblage of thousands of synchronously-moving cells, Dictyostelids are often referred to as 'social amoebae', and have been the subjects of serious study since the 1930s. Research in this area has been instrumental in understanding many problems in cellular biology. Beginning with the history of Dictyostelids and discussing each stage of their development, this book considers the evolution of this unique organism, analyses the special properties of the Dictyostelid genome, and presents in detail the methods available, at the time of the book's original publication in 2001, to manipulate their genes. Representing the synthesis of such material and with an emphasis on combining classical experiments with modern molecular findings, this book will be essential for researchers and graduates in developmental and cellular biology.

The Evolution of Differentiation

The Evolution of Differentiation PDF Author: William S. Bullough
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 1483263576
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
The Evolution of Differentiation attempts to sketch the outlines of a framework from what is now known or suspected of the various aspects of differentiation in all types of organisms. This book surveys the many aspects of differentiation that are seen today, and in particular, because of the evident universality of expression of the genetic code, to enquire whether any similar universality exists in the methods of gene repression and activation. The information reviewed ranges from the chemical control of the genetic mechanisms of unicellular organisms during their various phases of activity, to the chemical control of differentiation in multicellular organisms both during embryonic development and in the adult state. Finally, some consideration is also given to that collapse of differentiation which leads to cancer.

Myxobacteria

Myxobacteria PDF Author: David E. Whitworth
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781555814205
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This volume represents a major review of many aspects of myxobacterial biology, including multicellularity, social behavior, differentiation, cellular regulation, metabolism, evolution, and ecology. Synthesizing the latest knowledge on myxobacteria, this accessible volume will be indispensable for both specialists and nonspecialists interested in the field.

Bacteria as Multicellular Organisms

Bacteria as Multicellular Organisms PDF Author: James Alan Shapiro
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 490

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Book Description
Bacteria as Multicellular Organisms is the first book devoted specifically to multicellular aspects of bacterial life. Contrary to conventional wisdom, which treats bacteria as autonomous single cells, this book shows how bacteria are sentient, interactive organisms with an unexpectedly broad repertoire of chemical and physical mechanisms for signalling each other and organizing themselves into multicellular aggregates with novel properties. The book has been compiled from reports by specialists in a variety of disciplines from genetics and microbiology to environmental engineering and biotechnology. This interdisciplinary approach reflects the growing importance of bacteria as key experimental material for investigating phenomena common to many fields in contemporary science: communication, complexity, self-organization, and pattern formation. The impact of bacterial multicellularity will affect such diverse areas as evolutionary population biology, non-linear dynamics, and information science.

Evolutionary Transitions to Multicellular Life

Evolutionary Transitions to Multicellular Life PDF Author: Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9401796424
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 489

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Book Description
The book integrates our understanding of the factors and processes underlying the evolution of multicellularity by providing several complementary perspectives (both theoretical and experimental) and using examples from various lineages in which multicellularity evolved. Recent years marked an increased interest in understanding how and why these transitions occurred, and data from various fields are providing new insights into the forces driving the several independent transitions to multicellular life as well as into the genetic and molecular basis for the evolution of this phenotype. The ultimate goal of this book is to facilitate the identification of general and unifying principles and mechanisms.

Multicellular Animals

Multicellular Animals PDF Author: Peter Ax
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3662103966
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 419

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Book Description
The system of multicellular animals presented here is an alternative to the traditional classification system. In a new approach to the phylogenetic order, this book strives for an objective systematization of the metazoa, seeking a new path in the field of academic research and teaching.

The Cheating Cell

The Cheating Cell PDF Author: Athena Aktipis
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691163847
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
A fundamental and groundbreaking reassessment of how we view and manage cancer When we think of the forces driving cancer, we don’t necessarily think of evolution. But evolution and cancer are closely linked because the historical processes that created life also created cancer. The Cheating Cell delves into this extraordinary relationship, and shows that by understanding cancer’s evolutionary origins, researchers can come up with more effective, revolutionary treatments. Athena Aktipis goes back billions of years to explore when unicellular forms became multicellular organisms. Within these bodies of cooperating cells, cheating ones arose, overusing resources and replicating out of control, giving rise to cancer. Aktipis illustrates how evolution has paved the way for cancer’s ubiquity, and why it will exist as long as multicellular life does. Even so, she argues, this doesn’t mean we should give up on treating cancer—in fact, evolutionary approaches offer new and promising options for the disease’s prevention and treatments that aim at long-term management rather than simple eradication. Looking across species—from sponges and cacti to dogs and elephants—we are discovering new mechanisms of tumor suppression and the many ways that multicellular life-forms have evolved to keep cancer under control. By accepting that cancer is a part of our biological past, present, and future—and that we cannot win a war against evolution—treatments can become smarter, more strategic, and more humane. Unifying the latest research from biology, ecology, medicine, and social science, The Cheating Cell challenges us to rethink cancer’s fundamental nature and our relationship to it.