Polyploidy and Genome Evolution
Polyploidy and Genome Evolution

Author: Pamela Soltis

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-10-03

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 3642314414

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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.

Invasion Biology
Invasion Biology

Author: Mark A. Davis

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2009-01-29

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 0191551198

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With the exception of climate change, biological invasions have probably received more attention during the past ten years than any other ecological topic. Yet this is the first synthetic, single-authored overview of the field since Williamson's 1996 book. Written fifty years after the publication of Elton's pioneering monograph on the subject, Invasion Biology provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the science of biological invasions while also offering new insights and perspectives relating to the processes of introduction, establishment, and spread. The book connects science with application by describing the health, economic, and ecological impacts of invasive species as well as the variety of management strategies developed to mitigate harmful impacts. The author critically evaluates the approaches, findings, and controversies that have characterized invasion biology in recent years, and suggests a variety of future research directions. Carefully balanced to avoid distinct taxonomic, ecosystem, and geographic (both investigator and species) biases, the book addresses a wide range of invasive species (including protists, invertebrates, vertebrates, fungi, and plants) which have been studied in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments throughout the world by investigators equally diverse in their origins. This accessible and thought-provoking text will be of particular interest to graduate level students and established researchers in the fields of invasion biology, community ecology, conservation biology, and restoration ecology. It will also be of value and use to land managers, policy makers, and other professionals charged with controlling the negative impacts associated with recently arrived species.

Polyploidy
Polyploidy

Author: Walter H. Lewis

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 576

ISBN-13: 1461330696

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Polyploidy as a dramatic mutational event in the process of evolution has wide implications in nature and for the generation of new and improved crops. The three day Conference on POLYPLOIDY: BIOLOGICAL RELEVANCE focused on three aspects of this natural phenomenon: the first emphasized the characteristics of polyploidy, the second described the occurrence of polyploidy among plants and animals, and the third considered past and future areas of both fundamental and pragmatic research that involve polyploidy. New information relative to origin, cytogenetics, ecology, physiology, biochemistry, and populational studies stress the need to reexamine current views on the origins of polyploidy and its significance among both plants and animals. There are major differences in the occurrence of polyploidy between. plant groups and it is proving a much more common event among bisexual vertebrates than heretofore considered possible. Crop development and improvement must utilize approaches based fundamentally on more natural systems; in fact future research should focus more on polyploidy as a natural phenomenon that needs study at all levels of endeavor from field-oriented populational aspects to sophisticated molecular analyses and genome manipulations. This volume provides a summary of current knowledge of polyploidy pertinent to botanists, zoologists, and agriculturists who are interested in the evolution o~natural systems and who are concerned with the contribution that crop improvement can make to human well-being. Walter H. Lewis St. Louis, Missouri October, 1979 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Host Committee thanks all speakers and moderators for their generous contribution to the Conference and to this volume.

Plant Genome Diversity Volume 2
Plant Genome Diversity Volume 2

Author: Johann Greilhuber

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-11-13

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 3709111609

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This second of two volumes on Plant Genome Diversity provides, in 20 chapters, insights into the structural evolution of plant genomes with all its variations. Starting with an outline of plant phylogeny and its reconstruction, the second part of the volume describes the architecture and dynamics of the plant cell nucleus, the third examines the evolution and diversity of the karyotype in various lineages, including angiosperms, gymnosperms and monilophytes. The fourth part presents the mechanisms of polyploidization and its biological consequences and significance for land plant evolution. The fifth part deals with genome size evolution and its biological significance. Together with Volume I, this comprehensive book on the plant genome is intended for students and professionals in all fields of plant science, offering as it does a convenient entry into a burgeoning literature in a fast-moving field.

Evolution by Gene Duplication
Evolution by Gene Duplication

Author: Susumu Ohno

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-12-11

Total Pages: 171

ISBN-13: 364286659X

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It is said that "necessity is the mother of invention". To be sure, wheels and pulleys were invented out of necessity by the tenacious minds of upright citi zens. Looking at the history of mankind, however, one has to add that "Ieisure is the mother of cultural improvement". Man's creative genius flourished only when his mind, freed from the worry of daily toils, was permitted to entertain apparently useless thoughts. In the same manner, one might say with regard to evolution that "natural selection mere(y tnodifted, while redundanry created". Natural selection has been extremely effective in policing alleHe mutations which arise in already existing gene loci. Because of natural selection, organisms have been able to adapt to changing environments, and by adaptive radiation many new species were created from a common ancestral form. Y et, being an effective policeman, natural selection is extremely conservative by nature. Had evolution been entirely dependent upon natural selection, from a bacterium only numerous forms of bacteria would have emerged. The creation of metazoans, vertebrates and finally mammals from unicellular organisms would have been quite impos sible, for such big leaps in evolution required the creation of new gene loci with previously nonexistent functions. Only the cistron which became redun dant was able to escape from the relentless pressure of natural selection, and by escaping, it accumulated formerly forbidden mutations to emerge as a new gene locus.

Methods In Arabidopsis Research
Methods In Arabidopsis Research

Author: Nam-hai Chua

Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company

Published: 1992-06-12

Total Pages: 496

ISBN-13: 9813103426

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One of the ways to make consistent progress in a particular field of biology consists in choosing a good model system on which to focus the experimental efforts of the scientific community. It has taken a long time for scientists interested in various aspects of the life of plants to reach some sort of consensus. With the advent and impact of molecular biology, the small weed Arabidopsis is now the object of rapidly growing scientific attention. Since it is reasonable to assume that the general molecular mechanisms that are responsible for the physiological, cellular and biochemical properties of plants will be essentially conserved in all plants, it follows that these mechanisms should also operate in Arabidopsis and hence that its genome should contain most of the genes that we need to know about if we want to understand the genetic determination of the life processes in plants.Arabidopsis has a small genome and well documented genetic studies are available. It is easy to grow in large numbers and mutants defining important genetically controlled mechanisms are either available, or can readily be obtained. Various methods to introduce and express isolated homologous or heterologous genes are available. It is therefore realistic and desirable to aim at exploring the genome of this plant in very great detail. As will be illustrated in this book all the elements for such a grand strategy are in place.More and more scientists are therefore willing to accept the obvious and very real practical disadvantages resulting from its small size when experiments call for the isolation of proteins, membranes, subcellular fractions etc, in order to benefit from its extraordinary experimental advantages as a model system in molecular genetics. One can safely predict that in the next decade studies with Arabidopsis will provide major breakthroughs in our understanding of most aspects of plant physiology and developmental biology. The importance of this knowledge for plant breeding and therefore for a sustainable highly productive agriculture cannot be overestimated. We therefore expect that this book will provide valuable guidelines to all those who are planning experiments aimed at understanding various aspects of plant growth, productivity and interactions with the environment. The book offers a wealth of methodical and theoretical information as well as valuable references. It should be of use to students, teachers, as well as advanced researchers and those breeders who want to use molecular techniques in breeding.

Plant Genomes
Plant Genomes

Author: Jean-Nicolas Volff

Publisher: Karger Medical and Scientific Publishers

Published: 2008-01-01

Total Pages: 155

ISBN-13: 3805584911

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Recent major advances in the field of comparative genomics and cytogenomics of plants, particularly associated with the completion of ambitious genome projects, have uncovered astonishing facets of the architecture and evolutionary history of plant genomes. The aim of this book was to review these recent developments as well as their implications in our understanding of the mechanisms which drive plant diversity. New insights into the evolution of gene functions, gene families and genome size are presented, with particular emphasis on the evolutionary impact of polyploidization and transposable elements. Knowledge on the structure and evolution of plant sex chromosomes, centromeres and microRNAs is reviewed and updated. Taken together, the contributions by internationally recognized experts present a panoramic overview of the structural features and evolutionary dynamics of plant genomes.This volume of Genome Dynamics will provide researchers, teachers and students in the fields of biology and agronomy with a valuable source of current knowledge on plant genomes.

Cannabis sativa L. - Botany and Biotechnology
Cannabis sativa L. - Botany and Biotechnology

Author: Suman Chandra

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-05-23

Total Pages: 479

ISBN-13: 3319545647

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This book highlights current Cannabis research: its botany, authentication, biotechnology, in vitro propagation, chemistry, cannabinoids biosynthesis, metabolomics, genomics, biomass production, quality control, and pharmacology. Cannabis sativa L. (Family: Cannabaceae) is one of the oldest sources of fiber, food and medicine. This plant has been of interest to researchers, general public and media not only due to its medicinal properties but also the controversy surrounding its illicit use. Cannabis has a long history of medicinal use in the Middle East and Asia, being first introduced as a medicine in Western Europe in the early 19th century. Due to its numerous natural constituents, Cannabis is considered a chemically complex species. It contains a unique class of terpeno-phenolic compounds (cannabinoids or phytocannabinoids), which have been extensively studied since the discovery of the chemical structure of tetrah ydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), commonly known as THC, the main constituent responsible for the plant’s psychoactive effects. An additionally important cannabinoid of current interest is Cannabidiol (CBD). There has been a significant interest in CBD and CBD oil (extract of CBD rich Cannabis) over the last few years because of its reported activity as an antiepileptic agent, particularly its potential use in the treatment of intractable epilepsy in children.