The book is a detailed account of major biological events that contributed to create the present world and our species, with emphasis on cause-effect interrelationships and environmental impact. Its main goal is to guide the reader toward an understanding of the continuity of life across diversity, and of its large-scale interactions with the planet. Combining scientific soundness with a constant effort for clarity, the book begins with a cloud of dust in a corner of the Galaxy and, covering an immense lapse of time, terminates with an organism that ponders about the texture of the Universe.…mehr
The book is a detailed account of major biological events that contributed to create the present world and our species, with emphasis on cause-effect interrelationships and environmental impact. Its main goal is to guide the reader toward an understanding of the continuity of life across diversity, and of its large-scale interactions with the planet. Combining scientific soundness with a constant effort for clarity, the book begins with a cloud of dust in a corner of the Galaxy and, covering an immense lapse of time, terminates with an organism that ponders about the texture of the Universe. Comprehensive, updated references added to each chapter will help the reader wishing to expand any of the topics. A glossary explains less common technical terms.
Roberto Ligrone: Professor of Plant Biology at the Second University of Naples, now University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, he retired in 2014. His main research interest was evolutionary biology of lower land plants, a field in which he has gained international reputation. He is also an author of several textbooks and dissemination papers.
Inhaltsangabe
1. Introduction
2. The Origins
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Birth of The Solar System
2.3 The Earth
2.4 The Start of Tectonics
2.5 Tectonic Processes are Essential to Life
2.6 Genesis of The Atmosphere-Ocean-Continental Crust (AOC) System
3. The Birth of Life
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Seafloor Hydrothermal Vents as Settings for the Emergence of Life
3.3 A Primordial Role for RNA?
3.4 The Origin of the Genetic Code
3.5 A RNA-Protein World
3.6 Biological Membranes
3.7 From Geochemistry to Biochemistry: The Emergence of an Autonomous Metabolism
3.8 DNA Replaced RNA as the Repository of Biological Information
3.9 The Bacteria-Archaea Membrane Divide: Ancestral or Derived?
3.10 Concluding Remarks
4. Moving to the Light: The Evolution of Photosynthesis
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Light, Pigments and Photosystems
4.3 Accessory Pigments
4.4 The Photochemical Process in Anoxygenic Bacteria
4.5 Evolutionary Interrelationships of Type-1 and Type-2 Photosystems
4.6 Oxygenic Photosynthesis
4.7 Pathways of Carbon Photosynthetic Fixation
5. The Great Oxygenation
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Planetary Oxygen Balance
5.3 Methane was Probably a Key Driver of Planetary Oxygenation
5.4 The GOE was Associated with a Phase of Climatic Instability
5.5 After the GOE, the Earth Stabilized in a Low-Oxygen State for Over One Billion Years
5.6 The Earth Entered a High-Oxygen Phase About 800 Million Years Ago
5.7 The Impact of Oxygen on Biological Evolution
6. Eukaryotes
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Rise and Fall of the Archaezoan Model of Eukaryogenesis
6.3 Post-Archaezoan Models
6.4 The Neomuran Model
6.5 The Origin of the Nucleus
6.6 Was the Host a Primitive Eukaryote or a Complex Archaeon?
6.7 The Mitochondria
6.8 The Last Eukaryote Common Ancestor (LECA) had all the Fundamental Traits of Eukaryotic Cells
6.9 Eukaryote Phylogeny and Systematics
6.10 Timing of Eukaryote Appearance and Diversification
6.11 Concluding Remarks
7. Sexual Reproduction
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Origin of Meiotic Sex
7.3 The Case of Parthenogenetic Rotifers
7.4 Sexual Reproduction Sets Strong Species Boundaries in Eukaryotes
7.5 Species Boundary in Prokaryotes is Conventional
7.6 Gamete Differentiation and Genders
8. Multicellularity
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Cellular Specialization and Levels of Organization in Multicellular Organisms
8.3 Stem Cells and Germ Line
8.4 Concluding Remarks
9. The Chloroplast and Photosynthetic Eukaryotes
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Birth of the Primary Chloroplast
9.3 The Plants (Archaeplastida)
9.4 Secondary Chloroplasts
9.5 Phylogeny of Eukaryotes with Secondary Chloroplasts
9.8 Chloroplast Thieves and Other Stories
9.7 Plastid Division
9.8 Storage Polysaccharides
10. The Animals
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Embryo Development and Body Symmetry
10.3 Animal Systematics
10.4 Cellular Junctions and Epithelia
10.5 The Intestine and Animal Evolution
10.6 Chordates
10.7 The Impact of Animals on the Global Environment
11. Land Plants
11.1 Introduction
11.2 An Early Step in Plant Terrestrialization was a Change in the Ancestral Life Cycle
11.3 Early Land Plants
11.4 Stomata and Homeohydry
11.5 Land Plant Systematics
11.6 The Xylem: A Lignified Water-Conducting System
11.7 Multiple Evolution of Leaves And Roots
11.8 Land Plants Have Co-Evolved with Fungal Symbionts
11.9 The Impact of Land Plants on the Global Environment
12. The Emergence of Humanity
12.1 Introduction
12.2 The Evolution of Bipedality
12.3 Australopythecines
12.4 The Genus Homo
12.5 Origin and Diffusion of Modern Humans
12.6 Death from a Distance: High-Speed Throwing
12.7 Why are Humans Naked?
12.8 Reproductive Biology of Humans
12.9 The Evolution of Language
12.10 The "Cognitive Revolution"
12.11 The Evolution of Cooperation and the Emergence of Culture
12.12 The Agricultural Revolution
12.13 The Evolution of Social Organization
12.14 The Search for "Human" Genes
12.15 The Impact of Humanity on the Global Environment
