Multicellularity – Origins and Evolution (Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology) - Hardcover

Niklas, Karl J.; Newman, Stuart A.; Bonner, John T.; Knoll, Andrew H.; Lahr, Daniel J.g.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262034158 ISBN 13: 9780262034159

Publisher: MIT Press, 2016

Synopsis

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. ContributorsMaja Adamska, Argyris Arnellos, Juan A. Arias, Eugenio Azpeitia, Mariana Benitez, Adriano Bonforti, John Tyler Bonner, Peter L. Conlin, A. Keith Dunker, Salva Duran-Nebreda, Ana E. Escalante, Valeria Hernandez-Hernandez, Kunihiko Kaneko, Andrew H. Knoll, Stephan G. Konig, Daniel J. G. Lahr, Ottoline Leyser, Alan C. Love, Raul Montanez, Emilio Mora van Cauwelaert, Alvaro Moreno, Vidyanand Nanjundiah, Aurora M. Nedelcu, Stuart A. Newman, Karl J. Niklas, William C. Ratcliff, Inaki Ruiz-Trillo, Ricard Sole

About this title

About the Author

Karl Niklas is Professor of Plant Biology at Cornell University. Stuart Newman is Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy at New York Medical College. Karl Niklas is Professor of Plant Biology at Cornell University. Stuart Newman is Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy at New York Medical College.

Edition details

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0262034158
• ISBN 13: 9780262034159
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 328