On the adaptive significance of growing

Life Cycles ◽  
1978 ◽  
pp. 56-63
Author(s):  
Peter Calow
2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 376-385
Author(s):  
Gao Jiangyun ◽  
Sheng Chunling ◽  
Yang Shuxia

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 4484
Author(s):  
Ewa Filip ◽  
Lidia Skuza

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT)- is defined as the acquisition of genetic material from another organism. However, recent findings indicate a possible role of HGT in the acquisition of traits with adaptive significance, suggesting that HGT is an important driving force in the evolution of eukaryotes as well as prokaryotes. It has been noted that, in eukaryotes, HGT is more prevalent than originally thought. Mitochondria and chloroplasts lost a large number of genes after their respective endosymbiotic events occurred. Even after this major content loss, organelle genomes still continue to lose their own genes. Many of these are subsequently acquired by intracellular gene transfer from the original plastid. The aim of our review was to elucidate the role of chloroplasts in the transfer of genes. This review also explores gene transfer involving mitochondrial and nuclear genomes, though recent studies indicate that chloroplast genomes are far more active in HGT as compared to these other two DNA-containing cellular compartments.


2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koustubh M. Vaze ◽  
Vijay Kumar Sharma

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 20160509 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. D. Rundle ◽  
J. I. Spicer

There is a current surge of research interest in the potential role of developmental plasticity in adaptation and evolution. Here we make a case that some of this research effort should explore the adaptive significance of heterokairy, a specific type of plasticity that describes environmentally driven, altered timing of development within a species. This emphasis seems warranted given the pervasive occurrence of heterochrony, altered developmental timing between species, in evolution. We briefly review studies investigating heterochrony within an adaptive context across animal taxa, including examples that explore links between heterokairy and heterochrony. We then outline how sequence heterokairy could be included within the research agenda for developmental plasticity. We suggest that the study of heterokairy may be particularly pertinent in (i) determining the importance of non-adaptive plasticity, and (ii) embedding concepts from comparative embryology such as developmental modularity and disassociation within a developmental plasticity framework.


Evolution ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael T. Ghiselin

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOSH McDERMOTT ◽  
MARC HAUSER

THE ORIGINS and adaptive significance of music, long an elusive target, are now active topics of empirical study, with many interesting developments over the past few years. This article reviews research in anthropology, ethnomusicology, developmental and comparative psychology, neuropsychology, and neurophysiology that bears on questions concerning the origins and evolution of music. We focus on the hypothesis that music perception is constrained by innate, possibly human- and musicspecific principles of organization, as these are candidates for evolutionary explanations. We begin by discussing the distinct roles of different fields of inquiry in constraining claims about innateness and adaptation, and then proceed to review the available evidence. Although research on many of these topics is still in its infancy, at present there is converging evidence that a few basic features of music (relative pitch, the importance of the octave, intervals with simple ratios, tonality, and perhaps elementary musical preferences) are determined in part by innate constraints. At present, it is unclear how many of these constraints are uniquely human and specific to music. Many, however, are unlikely to be adaptations for music, but rather are probably side effects of more general-purpose mechanisms. We conclude by reiterating the significance of identifying processes that are innate, unique to humans, and specific to music, and highlight several possible directions for future research.


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