Evo-devo and an expanding evolutionary synthesis- a genetic theory of morphological evolution..pdfVIP

Leading Edge Perspective Evo-Devo and an Expanding Evolutionary Synthesis: A Genetic Theory of Morphological Evolution 1, Sean B. Carroll * 1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA *Correspondence: sbcarrol@wisc.edu DOI 10.1016/j.cell.2008.06.030 Biologists have long sought to understand which genes and what kinds of changes in their sequences are responsible for the evolution of morphological diversity. Here, I outline eight principles derived from molecular and evolutionary developmental biology and review recent studies of species divergence that have led to a genetic theory of morphological evolution, which states that (1) form evolves largely by altering the expression of functionally conserved proteins, and (2) such changes largely occur through mutations in the cis-regulatory sequences of pleiotropic developmental regulatory loci and of the target genes within the vast networks they control. Introduction tion is in progress” (Raff, 2000) to “Let’s be honest: the much- Biologists have long recognized that to understand the pro- hyped discipline of evolutionary developmental biology...hasn’t cess of evolution we need to understand the roles of genes in quite lived up to expectations—at least, not if one were expect- development. However, at the time of the “Modern Synthesis” ing a revolution in biology” (Richardson, 2003). Still others have of evolutionary theory that drew together various disciplines drawn an analogy between current enthusiasm for ideas in evo- including genetics, paleontology, and systematics, very little devo and the theory of punctuated equilibrium as a cautionary could be said about the effects of genes on developm