Evolutionary Biology: Exobiology and Evolutionary Mechanisms, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2013 Exobiology and Evolutionary Mechanisms

This book presents 19 selected contributions to the 16th Evolutionary Biology Meeting, which took place in September 2012 in Marseilles. The aims of these annual meetings, which gather together leading evolutionary biologists and other scientists, are to promote the exchange of ideas and to encourage interdisciplinary collaborations. The first chapter deals with the history of a great discovery: The first experiments on ascidian and sea urchin egg fertilization. The remaining contributions are grouped under the following categories:

·       Evolutionary biology concepts

·       Exobiology and the origin of life

·       Evolutionary mechanisms

Offering an up-to-date overview of recent findings in the field of evolutionary biology, this book is an invaluable source of information for scientists, teachers and advanced students.

Part I  History of Great Discoveries

1 The First Experiments of Ascidian and Sea Urchin Eggs Fertilization

Margherita Raineri, Erki Tammiksaar

Part II  Evolutionary Biology Concepts

2 Ontic Openness as Key Factor in the Evolution of Biological Systems

Søren Nors Nielsen and Claus Emmeche

3 Effects of Epistasis and Pleiotropy on Fitness Landscapes

Bjørn Østman

Part III  Exobiology and the Origin of Life

4 Autocatalytic Sets: The Origin of Life, Evolution, and Functional Organization

Wim Hordijk, Mike Steel and Stuart Kauffman

5 Interactions of Clay Minerals with RNA Components

Hideo Hashizume, Sjerry van der Gaast, Benny K.G. Theng

6 Bottom-up Protocell Design: Gaining Insights in the Emergence of Complex Functions

Rafał Wieczorek, Michael C. Wamberg, Anders N. Albertsen, Philipp M. G. Löffler and Pierre-Alain Monnard

7 From Life to Exolife: The interdependence of astrobiology and evolutionary biology

Jack T. O’Malley-James and Stefanie Lutz

8 The Possible Roles of Water in the Prebiotic Chemical Evolution of DNA ― An Approach by Single Molecule Studies

Shuxun Cui

Part IV  Evolutionary Mechanisms

9 Domain Architecture Evolution of Metazoan Proteins

László Patthy

10 Of Trees and Bushes: Phylogenetic Networks as Tools to Detect, Visualize and Model Reticulate Evolution

Antonio Hernandez-Lopez

11 Horizontal Acquisition of Prokaryotic Genes for Eukaryote Functioning and Niche Adaptation

Maxime Bruto, Claire Prigent-Combaret, Patricia Luis, Grégory Hoff, Yvan Moënne-Loccoz and Daniel Muller

12 Molecular Evolution of Disrupted Transfer RNA Genes and Their Introns in Archaea

Akio Kanai

13 Memory of Temperature in the Seasonal Control of Flowering Time: an Unexplored Link Between Meteorology and Molecular Biology

Hiroshi Kudoh and Atsushi J. Nagano

14 Current Approaches in Spatial Genetics

V. Montano, A. Eriksson, A. Manica and Y. Moodley

15 Consequences of Segregation and Genetic Exchange on Adaptability in Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)

Caroline Angelard and Ian.R Sanders

16 Mitochondrial Genes, Sex Determination and Hermaphroditism in Freshwater Mussels (Bivalvia: Unionoida).

Donald T. Stewart, Walter R. Hoeh, Gerhard Bauer, and Sophie Breton

17 Variable Lymphocyte Receptors in JawLess Vertebrates: Illuminating the Origin and Early Evolution of Adaptive Immunity

Sabyasachi Das and Masayuki Hirano

18 An Evo-Devo Perspective on Hybrid Infertility and Speciation

Priscilla Ambrosi, Sebastian Chadha, Emma Yang, Rui Sousa-Neves and Claudia M Mizutani

19 Genetic and Molecular Dissection of Animal Decision-Making: A New Frontier for Genetic Analysis

Youngmin Chu, Joseph Schinaman and Rui Sousa-Neves                                                                                                                        

Includes recent reserch results

Written by experts in the field

Richly illustrated

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras