Nongenetic Information and Evolution
- 1st Edition - November 6, 2024
- Imprint: Academic Press
- Author: Nelson R Cabej
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 2 2 1 5 9 - 0
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 2 2 1 6 0 - 6
Nongenetic Information and Evolution investigates the origin and nature of nongenetic information and its role in the mechanisms of evolutionary change. This book opens with an in… Read more
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Request a sales quoteNongenetic Information and Evolution investigates the origin and nature of nongenetic information and its role in the mechanisms of evolutionary change. This book opens with an introduction to the theoretical background and forms of nongenetic information, alongside its relationship with genetic information. It then explores nongenetic information across the biological kingdoms, including animals, nonneural organisms, plants, and unicellulars.
It also covers epigenetics as a form of nongenetic information, exploring DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromatin remodeling, and miRNA expression in this context. This book closes with a discussion of nongenetic information in evolution, considering evidence demonstrating its inheritance and hereditary impact.
This book provides a detailed overview of the origin and evolutionary impact of nongenetic inheritance, delivering a basis for further understanding the occurrence of hereditary phenomena and transgenerational phenotypic changes that do not involve genes. This is a useful reference for researchers in the field of epigenetics, evolutionary biology, developmental biology, and cellular and molecular biology.
- Explores the origin and causes of nongenetic information
- Considers a broad range of biological systems from unicellular living organisms to highly complex organisms
- Discusses the impact of nongenetic inheritance in the context of evolution
Researchers in epigenetics, evolutionary biology, developmental biology, and cellular and molecular biology, Postgraduate and doctoral students in related areas
- Title of Book
- Cover image
- Title page
- Table of Contents
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1. The integrated control system and nongenetic information
- 1 Homeostasis
- 1.1 Control systems in living organisms
- 1.1.1 Control systems in single-celled organisms
- 1.1.2 Control systems in multicellular organisms
- 1.2 Stimuli and setpoints
- 1.2.1 Neural mechanism of the establishment of set points
- 1.2.2 Can the brain establish setpoints?
- 1.3 Body fluid homeostasis in animals is neurally maintained
- 1.3.1 Maintenance of Na+ homeostasis
- 1.3.2 Maintenance of Ca2+ homeostasis
- 1.4 Body size determination in animals
- 1.4.1 Determination of adult body weight
- 1.4.2 A “counting mechanism” may maintain the species-specific number of cells
- 1.4.3 Maintenance of the adult body weight in mammals
- 2 Biological inheritance and information
- 2.1 What is information?
- 2.1.1 Meaningful information
- 2.1.2 Pragmatic information
- 2.1.3 Structural and symbolic information
- 2.1.4 Symbolic information
- 2.2 Genetic information
- 2.2.1 The concept of gene
- 2.3 Constraints of the Watson-Crick system of heredity
- 2.3.1 Genetic information cannot account for the inheritance of morphological traits
- 2.4 The genetic toolkit
- 3 The nervous system as a source of non-genetic information for GRN activation
- 3.1 Nongenetic/adaptive information
- 3.2 A new layer of regulation of gene expression—epigenetic modifications
- 3.3 Epigenetic modifications as a distinct form of nongenetic information
- 3.4 The origin of nongenetic information in animals
- 3.5 The language neurons use to communicate
- 3.6 Evolution of nongenetic information processing systems
- 3.7 Nongenetic information in organic evolution
- 4 Nongenetic versus genetic information
- 2. Nongenetic information in unicellulars
- 1 Cytoskeleton
- 1.1 Microtubules
- 1.2 Actin filaments
- 1.3 Intermediate filaments
- 2 Cytoskeleton in gene expression
- 3 Nongenetic information in DNA replication and gene expression
- 3.1 Chromosome segregation
- 3.2 Bacterial DNA replication
- 3.3 Nongenetic regulation of cytokinesis
- 3.4 Nongenetic determination of the position of the nucleus and organelles within the cell
- 4 Directed cell locomotion and migration
- 5 Determination of the cell size
- 6 Eyespot in single-celled organisms
- 7 Cognitive phenomena in unicellulars
- 8 The cytoskeleton as the control system and source of nongenetic information in unicellular organisms
- 3. Nongenetic information in plants
- 1 Plant cytoskeleton
- 2 Cytoskeleton and environmental stimuli
- 3 Nongenetic information in plant development
- 3.1 Cytoskeleton in seed germination
- 3.2 Cytoskeleton in shoot apical meristem growth and organogenesis
- 3.3 Cytoskeleton determines cell shape and direction of cell growth
- 3.4 Microtubules regulate the directionality of apical growth in root hairs
- 3.5 Cytoskeleton induces gene expression in plant cells
- 3.6 Microtubules control and regulate plant cell division
- 3.7 Microtubules regulate non-cell autonomous activities of plant miRNAs
- 3.8 Cytoskeleton determines positioning of plant cell organelles
- 4 Melatonin and the plant cell growth
- 5 Role of the cytoskeleton in plant adaptation
- 5.1 Plant responses to external stimuli
- 5.2 Systemic acquired immunity and immunological memory
- 5.3 Plant tropisms
- 5.3.1 Phototropism
- 5.3.2 Gravitropism
- 5.3.3 Hydrotropism
- 5.4 Microtubules in cold stress and cold adaptation
- 5.5 Microtubules regulate plant response to stressful conditions
- 6 “Neuroid” phenomena in plants
- 6.1 Plant learning
- 6.2 Electric signals in carnivorous plants
- 4. Nongenetic information in animal development
- 1 Parentally inherited nongenetic information in animals: A note on the terminology of parental cytoplasmic factors
- 2 Nongenetic information and gene expression in the nervous system
- 2.1 Neuronal activity generates nongenetic information for gene expression
- 2.2 Are environmental stimuli sources of nongenetic information for animals?
- 3 Egg cell and maternal cytoplasmic determinants
- 3.1 Maternal cytoplasmic determinants
- 3.2 Deployment of maternal cytoplasmic determinants in the oocyte
- 3.3 Does neural activity regulate the length of microtubules?
- 3.4 Evidence on the neural control of microtubule length
- 4 Nongenetic positioning of maternal mRNAs in the oocyte
- 4.1 Neural activity in deposition of parental cytoplasmic determinants
- 4.2 Regulation of the site-specific deployment of cytoplasmic determinants in the egg
- 4.3 Role of neural instructions in receptor-mediated endocytosis
- 5 Deployment of the paternal nongenetic information to sperm
- 5.1 Acquisition of paternal nongenetic information during epididymal transiting
- 5.2 Denervation corroborates the instructive role of the nervous system in deployment of paternal miRNAs in spermatozoa
- 6 Fertilization
- 6.1 Sperm in search of the egg
- 6.2 Sperm centrosome and centrioles in zygote formation
- 6.3 What happens to sperm centrioles in the zygote
- 7 Nongenetic information in early embryonic development
- 7.1 Cellularization of the embryo
- 7.2 Maternal serotonin in early mammalian development
- 7.3 Nongenetic information in gastrulation
- 7.4 Ordered migration of blastocoel epithelial cells
- 7.5 Maternal regulation of mesoderm
- 7.6 Germband extension in Drosophila
- 8 Nongenetic information in neural induction
- 8.1 Development of the neural tube—formation of the central nervous system
- 8.2 The end of the parental role in development and the phylotypic stage
- 8.3 On the evolutionary significance of the phylotypic stage
- 9 Formation of the central nervous system
- 9.1 Why is the CNS the first organ system to develop in animals?
- 10 Nongenetic autoregulation of brain development in vertebrates
- 10.1 Neuronal activity specifies neuronal transmitter type and neuronal transmitter receptors
- 10.2 Neurotransmitter-mediated proliferation of neural progenitor cells
- 10.3 Neuronal activity is involved in directed migration of neurons in the brain
- 10.4 Neurotransmitters drive neuronal differentiation
- 10.5 Autoregulation of rhombomeres and metencephalon development
- 10.6 The midbrain/mesencephalon
- 10.7 Forebrain/prosencephalon
- 10.8 Development of the hypothalamus
- 10.9 Role of maternal and embryonic endocrine hormones in brain development
- 10.10 Vascularization of the CNS
- 10.11 Neuronally guided CNS angiogenesis
- 11 Neural control of histogenesis and organogenesis
- 11.1 Formation of paraxial mesoderm—Somitogenesis
- 11.2 Myogenesis
- 11.3 Development of the neural crest
- 11.4 What activates the neural crest GRN
- 11.5 Nongenetic control of myogenesis
- 11.6 Bone development and energy homeostasis
- 11.7 Formation of germ cell anlagen
- 12 Neural regulation of organogenesis
- 12.1 Development of endocrine glands
- 12.1.1 Pineal gland
- 12.1.2 Development of the pituitary
- 12.1.3 Development of the adrenal gland
- 12.1.4 Development of pancreas
- 12.1.5 Thymus development
- 12.2 Development of the submandibular salivary gland
- 12.3 Development of the eye
- 12.4 Cardiogenesis
- 12.5 Nongenetic control of the vascular circulation system
- 12.6 Nongenetic information in liver development
- 12.7 Nongenetic information in lung and airways development
- 12.8 Nongenetic information regulates metamorphosis
- 13 Neural control of the development of the sensory organs of the vertebrate head
- 13.1 Development of the inner ear
- 13.2 Sensory neurons regulate hair growth
- 13.3 Tooth development
- 5. Nongenetic information in animal evolution
- 1 Time to see the forest behind the trees
- 1.1 Biological atomism
- 1.2 The paradox of the genetic toolkit
- 1.3 The conserved genetic toolkit
- 2 The transition to animal life
- 2.1 Choanoflagellates and choanoflagellate-like organisms as probable precursors of animals
- 2.2 The advent of the multicellularity and levels of organization in animals
- 2.3 The evolution of multicellularity was a nongenetic process
- 2.4 Choanoflagellates may share a common ancestor with animals
- 3 The control system in metazoans
- 3.1 Homeostasis
- 3.1.1 Nongenetic regulation of homeostasis
- 3.1.2 Neural regulation of reproductive activity
- 3.1.3 Integrated control systems—A defining property of multicellular organisms
- 3.1.4 Evolution of the control system in metazoans
- 3.2 Control systems in Parazoa
- 3.2.1 Placozoans
- 3.2.2 Sponges
- 4 The advent of the neuron and the centralized nervous system
- 4.1 Differentiation of the neuron
- 4.2 Formation of the syncytial neural net in Ctenophora
- 4.3 Cnidarians
- 5 Centralization of the nervous system and evolution of bilaterality
- 6 Nongenetic information in cell differentiation
- 6.1 Stem cell differentiation
- 6.2 Dedifferentiation
- 7 The neural crest
- 7.1 Development of the neural crest
- 7.2 Migration of neural crest cells
- 7.3 Evolution of the neural crest
- 8 Neural control of the immune system
- 8.1 Innate immunity—Cellular and humoral
- 8.2 Adaptive immunity as an acquired trait
- 8.3 Nongenetic regulation of adaptive immunity—Regulated somatic mutation
- 8.3.1 Formation of immune progenitors in the bone marrow
- 8.3.2 T cells
- 8.4 Nongenetic regulation of B cell immune function
- 8.5 Somatic hypermutation and antibody specificity
- 8.5.1 Somatic hypermutation in B cells
- 8.5.2 Somatic mutations in brain neurons seem to have physiological functions
- 9 Innate behaviors—Instincts
- 9.1 Formation of memory and engram
- 9.2 Ethology of instincts
- 9.3 Genes and the evolution of innate behaviors
- 9.4 On the evolution of instincts
- 9.5 Evidence on the transgenerational transmission of learned behavior
- 9.6 Neural basis of instincts
- 9.7 On the hierarchical relationship between learned and innate behaviors
- 9.8 Beginning from the zygote, animals reconstitute parental neural circuits
- 10 miRNAs as mediators of nongenetic information for gene expression
- 10.1 Neuronal activity regulates miRNA expression patterns
- 10.2 miRNA maturation is regulated by nongenetic neuronal signals
- 10.3 Neuronal activity controls miRNA expression patterns
- 10.4 Nongenetic regulation of miRNA turnout
- 10.5 Neural regulation of miRNA expression and transport to sperm
- 10.6 Aberrant expression of miRNAs, human neurological disorders, and carcinogenesis
- 10.7 Neural activity regulates long noncoding RNAs
- 11 Nongenetic regulation of spatial restriction of gene expression
- 11.1 Binary neural control of gene expression in vertebrates
- 11.2 Nongenetic control of gene expression in endocrine glands
- 12 Binary control of muscle growth in insects
- 12.1 Global control of muscle growth
- 12.1.1 Insulin/insulin-like pathway
- 12.1.2 The ecdysone pathway
- 12.2 Local neural control
- 12.2.1 Neural regulation of muscle fiber differentiation and muscle patterning in Drosophila
- 12.2.2 Neural regulation of development of the dorsal external oblique muscle in Manduca sexta
- 12.2.3 Neural control of ecdysone (Ec) expression in the silkworm Bombyx mori
- 13 Binary control of muscle growth in vertebrates
- 13.1 Global control in vertebrates
- 13.2 Local neural control of muscle development in vertebrates
- 13.3 An example of the binary control of muscle development in vertebrates
- 14 The binary control of gene expression in bone formation
- 14.1 Global hormonal control
- 14.2 Local control of bone mass by the sympathetic innervation
- 14.3 Other examples of the binary neural regulation of gene expression
- 14.3.1 Expression of JH in corpora allata
- 14.3.2 Neural control of folliculogenesis
- 14.3.3 A direct neural pathway from the hypothalamus to Leydig cells
- 14.3.4 Ovarian innervation regulates the ovarian function
- 15 Nongenetic information regulated gene recruitment during development and evolution
- 15.1 Nongenetic regulation of gene recruitment in development and evolution
- 15.2 Nongenetic regulation of gene recruitment in eye development
- 15.3 Neural recruitment of the eye GRN for the eye loss in the Astyanax mexicanus
- 15.4 Neural regulation of the recruitment of components of sex pheromones in salamanders
- 16 Nongenetic information and inheritance of acquired traits
- 16.1 A historical synopsis
- 16.2 The role of the environment in evolution
- 16.3 Adaptive responses to internal and external stimuli
- 16.4 How does the nervous system anticipate possible harmful effects of the stimulus?
- 16.5 A possible mechanism of transmission of parental neural circuits through egg/zygote to the offspring
- 16.6 Parental mRNAs and miRNAs are involved in the modification of the brain architecture and transgenerational inheritance of parental behaviors
- 16.7 A reconstructed mechanism of inheritance of acquired traits in vertebrates
- 17 Nongenetic regulation of evolutionary losses
- 18 Nongenetic information in evolutionary reversals
- 19 Nongenetic information in sympatric speciation
- 19.1 Sensory-cognitive mechanisms as a premating mechanism of reproductive isolation and speciation in sympatry
- 19.1.1 Visual-cognitive mechanism of reproductive isolation in sympatry
- 19.1.2 Olfactory-cognitive mechanisms of reproductive isolation in sympatry
- 19.1.3 Auditory-cognitive mechanisms of the reproductive isolation of species in sympatry
- 19.1.4 Electrocognitive sympatric speciation in fish
- Bibliography
- Index
- Edition: 1
- Published: November 6, 2024
- No. of pages (Paperback): 400
- No. of pages (eBook): 400
- Imprint: Academic Press
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN: 9780443221590
- eBook ISBN: 9780443221606
NR
Nelson R Cabej
Nelson R. Cabej earned his PhD in biology at the University of Tirana, Albania, and currently serves as a researcher in the Department of Biology at the same university. His scientific career began with research in the fields of epizootiology, immunology and molecular biology at the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Tirana, Albania. He also previously taught general biology at the University of Tirana and William Paterson College, Wayne, New Jersey, USA. He has published more than 50 scientific articles and 20 books in the fields of evolutionary biology, epigenetics, developmental biology and philosophy of biology, including 4 books with Elsevier: Building The Most Complex Structure On Earth (2013); Epigenetic Principles of Evolution, Second Edition (2018); Epigenetic Mechanisms of the Cambrian Explosion (2019); and The Inductive Brain in Development and Evolution (2021).
Affiliations and expertise
Department of Biology, University of Tirana, Tirana, AlbaniaRead Nongenetic Information and Evolution on ScienceDirect