Non-Darwinian and Darwinian prokaryotic and eukaryotic evolution--an enigma in cell biology conservation
Genet. mol. res. (Online)
;
2(3): 279-287, Sept. 2003.
Article
in English
| LILACS
| ID: lil-417602
RESUMO
Our theory is embarrassingly simple. What made today's prokaryotes and modern cyanobacteria so robust is the fact that in their origin, back in the Archean (3 billion years ago), selection did not play a central role in evolution, it had only a transitory role. Asexual reproduction, mutation, drift and sampling variance in local demes were more important especially when they were accompanied by population catastrophes, where millions perished. Metazoans are generally macroscopic, sexually reproducing, ecologically specialized organisms whose history is full of extinctions and radiations leading to morphological change. On the other hand, prokaryotes, thanks to their origin, avoid extinction because as a group they have slowly evolved as generalists. Specialization appears to be less important than ecological versatility and metabolic unspecialization. Modern cyanobacteria keep on using that strategy
Full text:
Available
Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
Selection, Genetic
/
Bacteria
/
Evolution, Molecular
/
Models, Biological
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Limits:
Animals
Language:
English
Journal:
Genet. mol. res. (Online)
Journal subject:
Molecular Biology
/
Genetics
Year:
2003
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Colombia
Institution/Affiliation country:
Universidad Manuela Beltran/CO
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