Variation and Evolution in Plants and Microorganisms : Toward a New Synthesis 50 Years after Stebbins

by Ayala, Francisco Jose; Fitch, Walter M.; Clegg, Michael T.; Colloquium on the Variation and Evolution in Plants and Microorganisms: Toward a New Synthesis 50 Years After Stebbins (2000 : Beckman Center of the National Academies)

• ISBN13: 9780309070997
• ISBN10: 0309070996
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-09-01
• Publisher: Natl Academy Pr

Summary

"The present book is intended as a progress report on the synthetic approach to evolution as it applies to the plant kingdom". With this simple statement, G. Ledyard Stebbins formulated the objectives of Variation and Evolution in Plants, published in 1950, setting forth for plants what became known as the "synthetic theory of evolution" or "the modern synthesis". The pervading conceit of the book was the molding of Darwin's evolution by natural selection within the framework of rapidly advancing genetic knowledge.

At the time, Variation and Evolution in Plants significantly extended the scope of the science of plants. Plants, with their unique genetic, physiological, and evolutionary features, had all but been left completely out of the synthesis until that point. Fifty years later, the National Academy of Sciences convened a colloquium to update the advances made by Stebbins.

This collection of 17 papers marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Stebbins' classic. Organized into five sections, the book covers: early evolution and the origin of ce

Table of Contents

PART I: EARLY EVOLUTION AND THE ORIGIN OF CELLS
G. Ledyard Stebbins (1906-2000)-An Appreciation	3	(3)
Peter H. Raven
Solution to Darwin's Dilemma: Discovery of the Missing Precambrian Record of Life	6	(15)
J. William Schopf
The Chimeric Eukaryote: Origin of the Nucleus from the Karyomastigont in Amitochondriate Protists	21	(14)
Lynn Margulis
Michael F. Dolan
Ricardo Guerrero
Dynamic Evolution of Plant Mitochondrial Genomes: Mobile Genes and Introns and Highly Variable Mutation Rates	35	(26)
Jeffery D. Palmer
Keith L. Adams
Yangrae Cho
Christopher L. Parkinson
Yin-Long Qiu
Keming Song
PART II: VIRAL AND BACTERIAL MODELS
The Evolution of RNA Viruses: A Population Genetics View	61	(22)
Andres Moya
Santiago E. Elena
Alma Bracho
Rosario Miralles
Eladio Barrio
Effects of Passage History and Sampling Bias on Phylogenetic Reconstruction of Human Influenza A Evolution	83	(16)
Robin M. Bush
Catherine B. Smith
Nancy J. Cox
Walter M. Fitch
Bacteria are Different: Observations, Interpretations, Speculations, and Opinions About the Mechanisms of Adaptive Evolution in Prokaryotes	99	(18)
Bruce R. Levin
Carl T. Bergstrom
PART III: PROTOCTIST MODELS
Evolution of RNA Editing in Trypanosome Mitochondria	117	(26)
Larry Simpson
Otavio H. Thiemann
Nicholas J. Savill
Juan D. Alfonzo
D.A. Maslov
Population Structure and Recent Evolution of Plasmodium falciparum	143	(24)
Stephen M. Rich
Francisco J. Ayala
PART IV: POPULATION VARIATION
Transposons and Genome Evolution in Plants	167	(20)
Nina Fedoroff
Maize as a Model for the Evolution of Plant Nuclear Genomes	187	(24)
Brandon S. Gaut
Maud Le Thierry d'Ennequin
Andrew S. Peek
Mark C. Sawkins
Flower Color Variation: A Model for the Experimental Study of Evolution	211	(24)
Michael T. Clegg
Mary L. Durbin
Gene Genealogies and Population Variation in Plants	235	(20)
Barbara A. Schaal
Kenneth M. Olsen
PART V: TRENDS AND PATTERNS IN PLANT EVOLUTION
Toward a New Synthesis: Major Evolutionary Trends in the Angiosperm Fossil Record	255	(16)
David Dilcher
Reproductive Systems and Evolution in Vascular Plants	271	(18)
Kent E. Holsinger
Hybridization as a Stimulus for the Evolution of Invasiveness in Plants?	289	(21)
Norman C. Ellstrand
Kristina A. Schierenbeck
The Role of Genetic and Genomic Attributes in the Success of Polyploids	310	(21)
Pamela S. Soltis
Douglas E. Soltis
Index	331