Nature at Work: Ongoing Saga of Evolution

Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 2
Copyright Page......Page 3
Table of Contents......Page 4
Foreword......Page 6
Preface......Page 8
1 The descent of humans and the Darwinian unification of all life......Page 9
Introduction......Page 10
Darwin’s trees and unification of life......Page 11
Africa and the great apes......Page 13
Descent of humans......Page 15
Humanity unified - the mitochondrial African mother......Page 18
Wandering humans and their DNA trees and haplogroups......Page 19
Out of Africa and into India......Page 22
“Light will be thrown on the origin...”......Page 24
References......Page 26
Introduction......Page 29
The discovery of “Ida”......Page 30
Importance of Ida......Page 33
Discussion......Page 34
References......Page 38
3 Darwin’s theory of evolution: Survival of nature’s fit!......Page 41
Evolution in the pre-Darwinian times......Page 42
Inferences from the voyage......Page 44
Formulation and publication of the theory......Page 46
Objections to the theory......Page 47
Variation under domestication......Page 48
Adaptive radiation......Page 50
The descent of man......Page 51
Conclusion......Page 55
References......Page 56
Introduction......Page 59
Background......Page 60
Animals have rights and duties......Page 61
Consequences of Darwinism......Page 63
Impact on Indian science......Page 64
References......Page 65
5 Charles Darwin: A driving force forhumanity toward agnosticism......Page 67
Part I: On Darwin – the master iconoclast......Page 68
Part II: On sadistic prescriptions......Page 76
A short list of some facts relevant to this essay......Page 81
References......Page 82
Introduction......Page 83
Underlying factors for the evolution of viruses......Page 84
Badnaviruses......Page 86
Begomoviruses......Page 88
Begomoviruses associated with cotton leaf curl disease......Page 89
Yellow mosaic disease of grain legumes......Page 90
Begomoviruses affecting tomato......Page 91
Potyviruses......Page 93
Tospoviruses......Page 96
Conclusions......Page 99
References......Page 100
Introduction......Page 101
HIV-1 Genetic subtypes......Page 103
Geographical distribution of HIV-1 subtypes......Page 104
The Indian scenario......Page 105
References......Page 107
Introduction......Page 111
Evolution of microbes by natural selection......Page 113
Concept of speciation in prokaryotes......Page 114
Microbial evolution in the present context......Page 116
Universality and diversity of prokaryotic genomes......Page 117
Source of genetic variability in prokaryotes......Page 118
DNA rearrangements......Page 119
DNA acquisition......Page 120
Transfers involving pathogen genomes......Page 121
Biodegradation pathways: delayed opportunistic response......Page 122
Conclusion......Page 124
References......Page 125
9 Evolutionary relationships among cyanobacteria, algae and plants: Revisited in the light of Darwinism......Page 127
Introduction......Page 128
Concept of Darwinism......Page 129
Modern day significance of Darwinism and the advent of Systemic Darwinism......Page 130
Systemic Darwinism......Page 131
Evolution and paleontology of algae......Page 132
Algal lineages: Linking the past with the future......Page 133
Endosymbiosis......Page 137
Horizontal gene transfer, the network of evolution and the forest replacing of the TOL (Tree of Life)......Page 140
Conservation vis-a-vis fluidity of genomes......Page 143
Genome-wide quantification of selection and junk DNA: Distinct evolutionary regimes for different genomes......Page 144
Conclusions......Page 145
References......Page 147
10 Biodiversity, phylogeny and evolution of fungi......Page 149
Diversity spectrum......Page 150
Fossil history and evolution of fungi......Page 151
Phylogenetic hypotheses, evolutionary relationships and circumscription of the fungi......Page 152
Recent aspects......Page 154
Evolution of fungi within the groups......Page 156
Zygomycota......Page 158
Glomeromycota......Page 159
Recent classifications......Page 160
References......Page 163
11 The origin of reproductive isolating mechanisms is an important event in the process of speciation: Evidences from Drosophila......Page 167
Introduction......Page 168
Ethological (behavioral or sexual) isolation......Page 170
Hybrid inviability......Page 172
Hybrid sterility......Page 173
One-sided sexual isolation and the direction of evolution......Page 174
Origin of reproductive isolating mechanisms......Page 176
References......Page 178
12 Adaptive radiation and insects......Page 183
Adaptive radiation......Page 184
Criteria for adaptive radiation......Page 185
Adaptive radiation and Charles Darwin......Page 186
Adaptive radiation and insect biodiversity......Page 188
Metamorphosis and wings in adaptive radiation of insects......Page 189
Sister group analysis and adaptive radiation......Page 192
Microevolution, macroevolution and adaptive radiation......Page 193
Cotton stem weevil – a case study......Page 196
Coleoptera and angiosperms feeding......Page 198
Curculionidae and Chrysomelidae proliferation of life history traits......Page 199
Chrysomeloidea and Curculionoidea: evolutionary trends......Page 200
Conclusions......Page 201
References......Page 202
13 Insights from mosquito evolution: Patterns, tempo and speciation......Page 205
Introduction......Page 206
Mosquito systematics, zoogeography and speciation......Page 207
Comparative karyotypes, chromosome morphology and evolution......Page 208
The evolution of sex chromosomes......Page 209
Hetrochromatin: Localization, variation, and expression......Page 210
Dynamics of highly repetitive DNA sequences......Page 212
Interspecific variation and genome organization......Page 213
Intraspecific genome size variation......Page 215
Saturated linkage maps......Page 216
Ethological differentiation, reproductive isolation and speciation......Page 217
Variation in and genetics of vector competence......Page 219
References......Page 220
14 The saga of pollination biology......Page 227
Introduction......Page 228
Resurgence of interest in pollination ecology......Page 229
Biotic pollination......Page 230
The question of legitimacy......Page 232
Floral display and cues......Page 235
Pollination constraints in the introduced crops......Page 237
Wind pollination......Page 238
Water pollination......Page 239
Mutualism at peril......Page 240
References......Page 241
Basic concept......Page 249
Darwin and Mendel......Page 250
Regulatory sequences......Page 251
Repeat sequences of DNA......Page 252
RNA world......Page 253
References......Page 254
Introduction......Page 257
Extensive global variation in haplotype structures......Page 260
Search for natural selection......Page 261
Haplotype networks reveal purifying selection......Page 264
The Pattern of non-synonymous versus synonymous changes reveal purifying selection and provide no evidence of overdominant selection on TLR genes......Page 266
Conclusions......Page 270
References......Page 271
Introduction......Page 275
Mega scale events and molecular clocks......Page 276
The Indian raft and the cretaceous Indian breakup......Page 278
Early Eocene (Drift phase of the Indian Plate)......Page 279
Collisional phase of the Indian plate......Page 282
References......Page 284
18 Testing the melanism-desiccation hypothesis: A case study in Darwinian evolution......Page 287
Adaptations to climatic stresses......Page 288
Impact of climatic variables on phenotypic evolution......Page 290
Thermal melanism as a model of phenotypic evolution......Page 292
Mechanistic basis of desiccation resistance (laboratory vs. natural populations)......Page 293
Melanisation - desiccation hypothesis......Page 295
High vs. low potential of body melanisation and desiccation stress resistance across species......Page 298
Evidences from seasonal adaptations......Page 299
Assessment of plastic vs. genetic changes......Page 301
Plasticity of body melanisation......Page 303
Evolution of behavioral traits through natural selection......Page 304
Variation in phenotypic frequencies through humidity changes......Page 305
Mating propensity under dry and wet conditions......Page 307
Conclusions......Page 309
References......Page 310
Introduction......Page 315
Phylogeny of malaria......Page 317
Evolutionary history of P. falciparum......Page 318
Evolutionary history of P. vivax......Page 319
Diversity between Plasmodium sp.......Page 320
References......Page 322
20 Evolutionary trends in soil-inhabiting alaimid nematodes......Page 327
Introduction......Page 328
Morphological characteristics of alaim nematodes with reference to evolution......Page 329
Evolutionary aspect......Page 333
References......Page 335
Introduction......Page 337
Cerebral cortex of reptiles......Page 338
Cerebral cortex of birds......Page 339
Neuronal types in birds......Page 342
Neuronal types in mammalian cerebral cortex......Page 345
Comparison of the neuronal types of the cerebral cortex in reptiles, birds and mammals......Page 347
References......Page 352
22 Medicinal and aromatic plants: A case example of evolving secondary metabolome and biochemical pathway diversity......Page 363
Introduction......Page 364
Evolving plant genomes: Emergence of duplicate genes, their clustering and divergence......Page 365
Case examples of pathway genes diversity for secondary metabolism in plants......Page 368
Domain swapping and neo-funtionalization: Another level of functional divergence......Page 370
References......Page 374
23 Conservation of Himalayan bioresources: An ecological, economical and evolutionary perspective......Page 377
Introduction......Page 378
The Himalaya: A global biodiversity hotspot......Page 379
Himalayan bioresources: Evolutionary and biogeographic contributions......Page 380
Cradle of flowering plants......Page 382
Centers of Diversity......Page 383
Himalayan bioresources: Ecological contributions......Page 384
Ecosystem representation......Page 385
Uniqueness of biodiversity: Endemism......Page 386
Conservation imperatives......Page 387
Medicinal plants......Page 388
Changing perspectives......Page 389
Conservation area network......Page 390
Management: Synchronizing with sustainable use......Page 394
Biodiversity conservation: Linking with livelihoods......Page 395
Effective valuation: Ensuring transfer of payments......Page 396
Watershed Management: Ultimate solution......Page 397
Conclusion......Page 398
References......Page 399
Color Images Section......Page 403