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Polyploidy plays an important role in biological diversity, trait improvement, and plant species survival. Understanding the evolutionary phenomenon of polyploidy is a key challenge for plant and crop scientists. This book is made up of contributions from leading researchers in the field from around the world, providing a truly global review of the subject. Providing broad-ranging coverage, and up-to-date information from some of the world’s leading researchers, this book is an invaluable resource for geneticists, plant and crop scientists, and evolutionary biologists.
Polyploidy – whole-genome duplication (WGD) – is a fundamental driver of biodiversity with significant consequences for genome structure, organization, and evolution. Once considered a speciation process common only in plants, polyploidy is now recognized to have played a major role in the structure, gene content, and evolution of most eukaryotic genomes. In fact, the diversity of eukaryotes seems closely tied to multiple WGDs. Polyploidy generates new genomic interactions – initially resulting in “genomic and transcriptomic shock” – that must be resolved in a new polyploid lineage. This process essentially acts as a “reset” button, resulting in genomic changes that may ultimately promote adaptive speciation. This book brings together for the first time the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of polyploid genome evolution with syntheses of the patterns and processes of genome evolution in diverse polyploid groups. Because polyploidy is most common and best studied in plants, the book emphasizes plant models, but recent studies of vertebrates and fungi are providing fresh perspectives on factors that allow polyploid speciation and shape polyploid genomes. The emerging paradigm is that polyploidy – through alterations in genome structure and gene regulation – generates genetic and phenotypic novelty that manifests itself at the chromosomal, physiological, and organismal levels, with long-term ecological and evolutionary consequences.
At least since the 1940s neo-Darwinism has prevailed as the consensus view in the study of evolution. The mechanism of evolution in this view is natural selection leading to adaptation, working on a substrate of adapta tionally random mutations. As both the study of genetic variation in natural populations, and the study of the mathematical equations of selec tion are reckoned to a field called population genetics, population genetics came to form the core in the theory of evolution. So much so, that the fact that there is more to the theory of evolution than population genetics became somewhat obscured. The genetics of the evolutionary process, or the genetics of evolutionary change, came close to being all of evolutionary biology. In the last 10 years, this dominating position of population genetics within evolutionary biology has been challenged. In evolutionary ecology, optimization theory proved more useful than population genetics for interesting predictions, especially of life history strategies. From develop mental biology, constraints in development and the role of internal regula tion were emphasized. From paleobiology, a proposal was put forward to describe the fossil record and the evolutionary process as a series of punc tuated equilibria; thus exhorting population geneticists to give a plausible account of how such might come about. All these developments tend to obscure the central role of population genetics in evolutionary biology.
Genetics and Evolution of Infectious Diseases, Third Edition discusses the evolving field of infectious diseases and their continued impact on the health of populations, especially in resource-limited areas of the world where they must confront the dual burden of death and disability due to infectious and chronic illnesses. Although substantial gains have been made in public health interventions for the treatment, prevention, and control of infectious diseases, in recent decades the world has witnessed the emergence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing antimicrobial resistance, and the emergence of many new bacterial, fungal, parasitic, and viral pathogens. Fully updated and revised, this new edition presents the consequences of such diseases, the evolution of infectious diseases, the genetics of host-pathogen relationship, and the control and prevention strategies that are, or can be, developed. This book offers valuable information to biomedical researchers, clinicians, public health practitioners, decisions-makers, and students and postgraduates studying infectious diseases, microbiology, medicine, and public health that is relevant to the control and prevention of neglected and emerging worldwide diseases. - Takes an integrated approach to infectious diseases - Provides the latest developments in the field of infectious diseases - Focuses on the contribution of evolutionary and genomic studies for the study and control of transmissible diseases - Includes updated and revised contributions from leading authorities, along with six new chapters
Genome Chaos: Rethinking Genetics, Evolution, and Molecular Medicine transports readers from Mendelian Genetics to 4D-genomics, building a case for genes and genomes as distinct biological entities, and positing that the genome, rather than individual genes, defines system inheritance and represents a clear unit of selection for macro-evolution. In authoring this thought-provoking text, Dr. Heng invigorates fresh discussions in genome theory and helps readers reevaluate their current understanding of human genetics, evolution, and new pathways for advancing molecular and precision medicine. - Bridges basic research and clinical application and provides a foundation for re-examining the results of large-scale omics studies and advancing molecular medicine - Gathers the most pressing questions in genomic and cytogenomic research - Offers alternative explanations to timely puzzles in the field - Contains eight evidence-based chapters that discuss 4d-genomics, genes and genomes as distinct biological entities, genome chaos and macro-cellular evolution, evolutionary cytogenetics and cancer, chromosomal coding and fuzzy inheritance, and more
The study of evolution at the molecular level has given the subject of evolutionary biology a new significance. Phylogenetic 'trees' of gene sequences are a powerful tool for recovering evolutionary relationships among species, and can be used to answer a broad range of evolutionary and ecological questions. They are also beginning to permeate the medical sciences. In this book, the authors approach the study of molecular evolution with the phylogenetic tree as a central metaphor. This will equip students and professionals with the ability to see both the evolutionary relevance of molecular data, and the significance evolutionary theory has for molecular studies. The book is accessible yet sufficiently detailed and explicit so that the student can learn the mechanics of the procedures discussed. The book is intended for senior undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in molecular evolution/phylogenetic reconstruction. It will also be a useful supplement for students taking wider courses in evolution, as well as a valuable resource for professionals. First student textbook of phylogenetic reconstruction which uses the tree as a central metaphor of evolution. Chapter summaries and annotated suggestions for further reading. Worked examples facilitate understanding of some of the more complex issues. Emphasis on clarity and accessibility.
"What underlying forces are responsible for the observed patterns of variability, given a collection of DNA sequences?" In approaching this question a number of probability models are introduced and anyalyzed.Throughout the book, the theory is developed in close connection with data from more than 60 experimental studies that illustrate the use of these results.
