Rapidly Evolving Genes and Genetic Systems

Ever since the pioneering work of Darwin and Wallace, evolutionary biologists have tried to understand the evolutionary dynamics of genetic systems. A range of theories on the rates of evolution-from static to gradual to punctuated to quantum-have been developed, mostly by comparing morphological changes over geological timescales as described in the fossil record. However, new paleontological, experimental, molecular, and genomic investigations have injected a tremendous amount of new data and fresh perspectives, offering valuable insights on the rates of evolutionary change, particularly in those fast-evolving genetic systems.

"Rapidly Evolving Genes and Genetic Systems" captures these recent exciting developments by bringing together information from morphological, molecular, cellular, developmental, and genetic investigations of both natural and experimental populations across a diversity of life forms. It provides case studies that exemplify rapid evolution, and showcases the diversity of rapidly evolving genes and genetic systems, emphasizing the extremely important roles that they play in adaptation, speciation, and the generation and maintenance of a diversity of biological traits and properties.

Richard Lewontin: Foreword
Preface

1: Rama S. Singh, Jianping Xu, Rob J. Kulathinal: Introduction

PART I: From Theory to Experiment
2: Sarah P. Otto: Theoretical perspectives on rapid evolutionary change
3: Mihai Albu, Amir R. Kermany, Donal A. Hickey: Recombination reshuffles the genotypic deck, thus accelerating the rate of evolution
4: Seiji Kumagai and Marcy K. Uyenoyama: Heterogeneity in neutral divergence across genomic regions induced by sex specific hybrid incompatibility
5: Jianping Xu: Rapid evolution in experimental populations of major life forms

PART II: Rapidly Evolving Genetic Elements
6: Wilfried Haerty and G. Brian Golding: Rapid evolution of low complexity sequences and single amino acid repeats across Eukaryotes
7: Weilong Hao: Fast rates of evolution in bacteria due to horizontal gene transfer
8: Xuhua Xia: Rapid evolution of animal mitochondrial DNA
9: Kevin C. Roach, Benjamin D. Ross, Harmit S. Malik: Rapid evolution of centromeres and centromeric/ kinetochore proteins
10: Rebekah L. Rogers and Daniel L. Hartl: Rapid Evolution via chimeric genes
11: Manyuan Long, Maria D. Vibranovski, Yong E. Zhang: Evolutionary interactions between sex chromosomes and autosomes
12: Dara G. Torgerson and Ryan D. Hernandez: Evolutionary signatures in non-coding DNA

PART III: Sex and Reproduction-Related Genetic Systems
13: Melody R. Palmer and Willie J. Swanson: Evolution of sperm-egg interaction
14: H. A. Lessios: Rates of sea urchin bindin evolution
15: Alex Wong and Mariana F. Wolfner: Evolution of Drosophila seminal proteins and their networks
16: Timothy L. Karr and Steve Dorus: Evolutionary genomics of the sperm proteome
17: Alberto Civetta: Fast evolution of reproductive genes: When is selection sexual?
18: Patrick M. O'Grady and Therese Ann Markow: Rapid morphological, behavioral, and ecological evolution in Drosophila: Comparisons between the endemic Hawaiian Drosophila and the cactophilic repleta species group 19: Timothy Y. James: Ancient yet fast: rapid evolution of mating genes and mating systems in Fungi

PART IV: Pathogens and their Hosts
20: Brian P. Lazzaro and Andrew G. Clark: Rapid evolution of innate immune response genes
21: Ruifu Yang, Yujun Cui, Dongsheng Zhou: Rapid evolution of the plague pathogen
22: Wen-Ya Ko, Felicia Gomez, Sarah A. Tishkoff: Evolution of human erythrocyte-specific genes involved in malaria susceptibility

PART V: From Gene Expression to Development to Speciation
23: Carlo G. Artieri: The rapid evolution of gene expression
24: Artyom Kopp: Rate variation in the evolution of development: A phylogenetic perspective
25: Michael L. Arnold, Jennafer A.P. Hamlin, Amanda N. Brothers, Evangeline S. Ballerini: Natural hybridization as a catalyst of rapid evolutionary change
26: Annika M. Moe, Wendy Clement, George D. Weiblen: Rapid evolution of pollinator-mediated plant reproductive isolation
27: Rob J. Kulathinal and Rama S. Singh: Sexual system genomics and speciation

Index

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Rama S. Singh is a Professor in the Department of Biology at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

Jianping Xu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

Rob J. Kulathinal is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA USA