Ecological evolutionary developmental biology
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Ecological evolutionary developmental biology (eco-evo-devo) is a field of biology combining
ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...
, developmental biology and
evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes ( natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life ...
to examine their relationship. The concept is closely tied to multiple biological mechanisms. The effects of eco-evo-devo can be a result of developmental plasticity, the result of symbiotic relationships or
epigenetically In biology, epigenetics is the study of stable phenotypic changes (known as ''marks'') that do not involve alterations in the DNA sequence. The Greek prefix '' epi-'' ( "over, outside of, around") in ''epigenetics'' implies features that are "o ...
inherited. Developmental plasticity that is controlled by environmental temperature may put certain species at risk as a result of climate change.


Phenotypic plasticity

Phenotypic or developmental plasticity is the alteration of development through environmental factors. These factors can induce multiple types of variants. An example of discrete variants are the seasonal polyphenisms '' Bicyclus'' butterflies. The temperature during the pupa stage determines the phenotype in the adult stage of the butterfly. A form of
meristic Meristics is an area of ichthyology and herpetology which relates to counting quantitative features of fish and reptiles, such as the number of fins or scales. A meristic (countable trait) can be used to describe a particular species of fish, or us ...
variation is the number of segments in '' Strigamia maritima'' centipedes. These animals live along the Northern coast of the United Kingdom. The number of leg-bearing segments in these centipedes was lower than in southern populations. Once again, this is a result of differences in temperature. In both these examples, the temperature altered the
ontogeny Ontogeny (also ontogenesis) is the origination and development of an organism (both physical and psychological, e.g., moral development), usually from the time of fertilization of the egg to adult. The term can also be used to refer to the s ...
of the organisms.


Epigenetic inheritance

Epigenetic inheritance is the inheritance of epigenetic marks on the DNA induced by environmental factors. These marks alter gene expression patterns, which can be transmitted to the next generation. This means that environmental cues can influence the development of the organism’s offspring. This is similar to the evolution theory of
Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biolo ...
. He stated that an organism can pass physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime on to its offspring. This is not entirely true with epigenetic inheritance, but environmental factors like temperature or food availability during the parent’s life can impact the development of the offspring.


Symbiotic interactions

Interactions between organisms and symbiotic microbes can influence their evolution and development. Through a shared evolutionary history, certain functions in development may become reliant on a symbiont. Examples of organisms known to have co-evolved in such a way are
mammals Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur o ...
,
nematodes The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a broa ...
and the Hawaiian bobtail squid. The light organ of the hawaiian bobtail squid has specialised structures, appendages, to promote colonisation of '' V. fischeri''. These appendages degenerate under the influence of the symbiont. Developmental
transcription factors In molecular biology, a transcription factor (TF) (or sequence-specific DNA-binding factor) is a protein that controls the rate of transcription of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA, by binding to a specific DNA sequence. The fun ...
Pax-6, eya and six are downregulated when exposed to ''V. fischeri''. ''
Wolbachia ''Wolbachia'' is a genus of intracellular bacteria that infects mainly arthropod species, including a high proportion of insects, and also some nematodes. It is one of the most common parasitic microbes, and is possibly the most common reproducti ...
'' are generally parasitic bacteria that harm their hosts, but are essential for the early development of filarial parasitic nematodes. ''Wolbachia'' localises on the posterior side and determines the anterior posterior
axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
. Mammals are not excluded from such interactions. The development of
capillary A capillary is a small blood vessel from 5 to 10 micrometres (μm) in diameter. Capillaries are composed of only the tunica intima, consisting of a thin wall of simple squamous endothelial cells. They are the smallest blood vessels in the bod ...
blood vessels, angiogenesis, in the gut is dependent on the colonisation of symbiotic bacteria. Paneth cells, a cell type of the intestinal
epithelia Epithelium or epithelial tissue is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. It is a thin, continuous, protective layer of compactly packed cells with a little intercellula ...
, respond to the presence of these bacteria by secreting molecules that promote angiogenesis.


Climate change

Climate change may alter the development of organisms. As a type of developmental plasticity, the sex determination of particular animals can be influenced by the temperature of the environment. Some Reptiles and
ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...
rely on
temperature-dependent sex determination Temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) is a type of environmental sex determination in which the temperatures experienced during embryonic/larval development determine the sex of the offspring. It is only observed in reptiles and teleost fish ...
(TSD). The determination takes place during a specific period of the embryonic development. Although the exact mechanisms of this type of sex determination remains unknown for most species, temperature sensitive proteins that determine the sex of alligators have been found. The effects of rising temperatures can already be seen in animals, for example the green sea turtle. Sea turtles produce more females when exposed to higher temperatures. As a result adult
green turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...
populations are currently 65% female on cooler beaches, but can reach 85% on their warmer nesting beaches. In contrast to the rising female proportion of sea turtles, the fish that use TSD, such as the
southern flounder The southern (or armless) flounders are a small family, Achiropsettidae, of flounders found in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters. There are four genera, each with one species. The bodies of southern flounders are greatly compressed, with both ...
, generally produce more males in response to higher temperatures. Species that are strongly influenced by temperature in their sex determination may be particularly at risk from climate change.


References

{{reflist Branches of biology Ecology Evolutionary biology Developmental biology