Genetics, Development, and Evolution: 17th Stadler Genetics Symposium

363 Pages·1986·16.577 MB·English

by  Gerald M. Edelman (auth.), J. Perry Gustafson, G. Ledyard Stebbins, Francisco J. Ayala (eds.)

GENETICS,
DEVELOPMENT,
AND EVOLUTION
STADLER GENETICS SYMPOSIA SERIES
GENE MANIPULATION IN PLANT IMPROVEMENT
Edited by J. Perry Gustafson
GENETICS, DEVELOPMENT, AND EVOLUTION
Edited by J. Perry Gustafson, G. Ledyard Stebbins, and Francisco J. Ayala
GENETICS,
DEVELOPMENT,
AND EVOLUTION
17th Stadler Genetics Symposium
Edited by
J. Perry Gustafson
University of Missouri
Columbia, Missouri
G. Ledyard Stebbins
and
Francisco J. Ayala
University of California, Davis
Davis, California
PLENUM PRESS • NEW YORK AND LONDON
ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-5139-9 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-5137-5
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4684-5137-5
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 79-635774
© 1986 Plenum Press, New York
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1986
A Division of Plenum Publishing Corporation
233 Spring Street, New York, N.Y. 10013
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher
TO PROFESSOR G. LEDYARD STEBBINS
ON THE OCCASION OF HIS 80TH BIRTHDAY
G. Ledyard Stebbins
Professor G. Leydard Stebbins celebrated his 80th anniversary on Jan
uary 6, 1986. More than 50 years of his long life have been dedicated to
the study of evolution. It is difficult to think of plant evolution in par
ticular, without evoking Stebbins' name and works. We collaborated with
him on the conception and organization of the 1985 Stadler Symposium,
but want to dedicate this volume to him in recognition of his unfailing com
mitment to science, of his outstanding scientific contributions, and of his
energy and cheerfulness. May he for years to come continue to be a source
of inspiration and a role model for other scientists. He will always be our
cherished friend.
J. Perry Gustafson
Francisco J. Ayala
Columbia and Davis
FOREWORD
One outstanding question in biology is the problem of devel
opment: how the genetic instructions encoded in the DNA become
expressed in the morphological, physiological, and behavioral
features of multicellular organisms, through an ordered sequence
of events that extend from the first cell division of the zygote
to the adult stage and eventual death. The problem is how a one
dimensional array of instructions is transformed into a four
dimensional entity, the organism that exists in space and time.
Understanding this transformation is, nevertheless, necessary for
mastering the process of evolution.
One hundred and twenty-five years after The Origin of Species,
we have gained some understanding of evolution at the genetic
level. Genetic information is stored in the linear sequence of
nucleotides in the DNA. Gene mutations, chromosomal reorganiza
tions, and a host of related processes introduce variation in the
sequence and the amount of DNA. The fate of these variations is
determined by interactions within the genome and with the outside
environment that are largely understood. We have recently gained
a glimpse of how the genome of eukaryotes is organized and will
learn much more about it in the future, now that we have the
research tools for it.
The processes that modulate the evolution of whole organisms
are also understood, in principle if not in their particular
operation. Natural selection is the resulting vector of multiple
component interactions that yield the net differential rate of
reproduction of organisms. And we know about the structure of
biological communities, about prediction and competition for
resources, about mating and kin interactions, and about the multi
farious relationships of organisms with their environments.
But we know little about the connection between the evolu
tion of the DNA and the evolution of whole organisms. This onto
geny gap looms large in evolutionary theory, because the process
of biological evolution cannot be satisfactorily comprehended
until we know how form and function corne about. The theory of
viii FOREWORD
evolution will take major forward strides, and will doubtless
undergo major modifications, when ontogeny and its evolution are
elucidated.
It seems likely that the field of biology is now poised to
start filling the gap of ontogeny. The techniques of gene clon
ing and DNA sequencing, the restless advances of molecular bio
logy, new advance in cell biology and in biochemistry, have all
contributed to open up the problem of the development of organisms.
It is this anticipation that moved the organizers of the 1985
Stadler Symposium to choose the topic "Genetics, Development, and
Evolution". The impressive array of contributors approach the
problem of ontogeny from diverse points of view and working with
different organisms--animals, plants, and fungi. We can only hope
that this gathering may become a significant landmark toward
resolving the problem of ontogeny, the puzzle of how ontogenetic
development came about in evolution and how, in turn, it modulates
the evolutionary process.
Francisco J. Ayala
Davis, July 1985
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The editor gratefully acknowledges the generous support of
the following contributors: College of Agriculture, University of
Missouri; Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri;
E. I. DuPont De Nemours & Company; Graduate School, University of
Missouri, School of Medicine, University of Missouri; Monsanto
Company; Northrup King Company; Pioneer Hi-Bred International,
Inc. and Trans World Airlines, Inc. who made the 17th Stadler
Genetics Symposium a success.
The speakers, who spent a tremendous amount of time preparing
their manuscripts and lectures are gratefully acknowledged. With
out their expertise and dedication the Symposium could not have
taken place.
I wish to thank the local chairpersons for their effort to
see that everyone in the respective sessions were well taken care
of during the symposium.
The behind-the-scene and on-site preparation was excellently
handled by Joanne Fredmeyer and Joy Gasparovic from Conferences
and Specialized Courses, University of Missouri, who tirelessly
handled all of my peculiar requirements and made sure everything
was extremely well organized.
Many thanks are due to Joyce Reinbott, University of Missouri,
for her excellent secretarial help in handling all the correspondence
and typing. A special thanks goes to A. J. Lukaszewski and
K. Robertson.
J. P. Gustafson
January 15, 1986
Columbia, Missouri
CONTENTS
Evolution and Morphogenesis:
The Regulator Hypothesis 1
G. M. Edelman
Gene Action and Morphogenesis in Plants 29
G. L. Stebbins
Mobile Elements in Maize:
A Force in Evolutionary and
Plant Breeding Processes • • 47
P. A. Peterson
Mutation, Apical Meristems and
Developmental Selection in
Plants . . • • • • • • . • 79
E. J. Klekowski, Jr., H. Mohr, and
N. Kazarinova-Fukshansky
Properties of Mutable Alleles Recovered
from Mutator Stocks of Zea mays L. • • • • • •• 115
V. Walbot, C. P. Briggs, and V. Chandler
Plant DNA Variation and Stress • • 143
C. A. Cullis
Conditio Sine Qua Non for ~ Novo
Emergence of New Genes and the
Concept of Primordial Building
Blocks . • • • • • • • 157
S. Ohno, N. Mori, and T. Matsunaga
Organization of Mutant Genes in Mouse
t-Haplotypes • • • • • 175
D. Bennett
Genetic Analysis of Morphogenesis 187
A. Garcia-Bellido
xi
xii CONTENTS
Cell Lineage and Cell Interactions
in the Determination of
Developmental Cell Fates . 211
M. Shankland and G. S. Stent
Structure and Regulated Transcription
of DIRS-I, A Novel Dictyostelium
discoideum Transposable Element 235
J. Cappello, S. M. Cohen, K. Handelsman,
and H. F. Lodish
Developmental Constraints and Evolutionary
Saltations: A Discussion and Critique . 253
J. S. Levinton
Intraspecies Genomic Variation. 289
R. J. Britten
Structure and Function of the Human
Retroviruses . 307
L. Ratner and R. C. Gallo
The T-DNA Genes of Agrobacterium Plasmids
Appear to be of a Complex Evolutionary
Origin 343
J. Schell
Index 355