Multicellularity: Origins and Evolution

by Karl J. Niklas (Editor), Stuart A. Newman (Editor), John T. Bonner (Foreword by)

Overview

Scholars consider the origins and consequences of the evolution of multicellularity, addressing a range of organisms, experimental protocols, theoretical concepts, and philosophical issues.

The evolution of multicellularity raises questions regarding genomic and developmental commonalities and discordances, selective advantages and disadvantages, physical determinants of development, and the origins of morphological novelties. It also represents a change in the definition of individuality, because a new organism emerges from interactions among single cells. This volume considers these and other questions, with contributions that explore the origins and consequences of the evolution of multicellularity, addressing a range of topics, organisms, and experimental protocols.
Each section focuses on selected topics or particular lineages that present a significant insight or challenge. The contributors consider the fossil record of the paleontological circumstances in which animal multicellularity evolved; cooptation, recurrent patterns, modularity, and plausible pathways for multicellular evolution in plants; theoretical approaches to the amoebozoa and fungi (cellular slime molds having long provided a robust model system for exploring the evolution of multicellularity), plants, and animals; genomic toolkits of metazoan multicellularity; and philosophical aspects of the meaning of individuality in light of multicellular evolution.
Contributors
Maja Adamska, Argyris Arnellos, Juan A. Arias, Eugenio Azpeitia, Mariana Benítez, Adriano Bonforti, John Tyler Bonner, Peter L. Conlin, A. Keith Dunker, Salva Duran-Nebreda, Ana E. Escalante, Valeria Hernández-Hernández, Kunihiko Kaneko, Andrew H. Knoll, Stephan G. König, Daniel J. G. Lahr, Ottoline Leyser, Alan C. Love, Raul Montañez, Emilio Mora van Cauwelaert, Alvaro Moreno, Vidyanand Nanjundiah, Aurora M. Nedelcu, Stuart A. Newman, Karl J. Niklas, William C. Ratcliff, Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo, Ricard Solé

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262545853
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	06/07/2022
Series:	Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology , #18
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Karl Niklas is Professor of Plant Biology at Cornell University.

Stuart Newman is Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy at New York Medical College.

Karl Niklas is Professor of Plant Biology at Cornell University.

Stuart Newman is Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy at New York Medical College.

Karl Niklas is Professor of Plant Biology at Cornell University.

Stuart Newman is Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy at New York Medical College.

Table of Contents

Dedication: Werner Callebaut vii

Series Foreword ix

Foreword: The Evolution of Multicellularity John Tyler Bonner xi

Preface xxi

I Functional and Molecular Predispositions to Multicellularity 1

1 Fossils, Feeding, and the Evolution of Complex Multicellularity Andrew H. Knoll Daniel J. G. Lahr 3

2 Alternative Splicing, Intrinsically Disordered Proteins, Calmodulin, and the Evolution of Multicellularity Karl J. Niklas A. Keith Dunker 17

II Plants and Related Theory 41

3 The Mechanistic Basis for the Evolution of Soma during the Transition to Multicellularity in the Volvocine Algae Stephan G. König Aurora M. Nedelcu 43

4 Physicochemical Factors in the Organization of Multicellular Aggregates and Plants Juan Antonio Arias del Angel Eugenio Azpeitia Mariana Benítez Ana E. Escalante Valeria Hernández-Hernández Emilio Mora Van Cauwelaert 71

5 Angiosperm Multicellularity: The Whole, the Parts, and the Sum Ottoline Leyser 87

III Amoebozoa, Fungi, and Related Theory 103

6 Cellular Slime Mold Development as a Paradigm for the Transition from Unicellular to Multicellular Life Vidyanand Nanjundiah 105

7 Trade-offs Drive the Evolution of Increased Complexity in Nascent Multicellular Digital Organisms Peter L. Conlin William C. Ratcliff 131

8 The Paths to Artificial Multicellularity: From Physics to Evolution Salva Duran-Nebreda Raúl Montañez Adriano Bonforti Ricard Solé 149

IV Metazoa and Related Theory 169

9 What Are the Genomes of Premetazoan Lineages Telling Us about the Origin of Metazoa? Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo 171

10 Sponges as the Rosetta Stone of Colonial-to-Multicellular Transition Maja Adamska 185

11 A Scenario for the Origin of Multicellular Organisms: Perspective from Multilevel Consistency Dynamics Kunihiko Kaneko 201

12 Multicellularity, the Emergence of Animal Body Plans, and the Stabilizing Role of the Egg Stuart A. Newman 225

V Philosophical Aspects of Multicellularity 247

13 Integrating Constitution and Interaction in the Transition from Unicellular to Multicellular Organisms Argyris Amellos Alvaro Moreno 249

14 Explaining the Origins of Multicellularity: Between Evolutionary Dynamics and Developmental Mechanisms Alan C. Love 277

Contributors 297

Index 299