Meeting Abstract

S5.11  Monday, Jan. 5  How to Integrate Cell-Mol Evolution HICKS, J.W.; Univ. of California, Irvine jhicks@uci.edu

Understanding the evolution of complex physiological systems remains a major goal in biology. In the 60s and 70s, the evolution of complex organs and organ systems were often based on just so stories, with little, if any, mechanistic understanding of the factors that drove specific evolutionary trajectories. In the 1980s, comparative physiology began incorporating phylogenetic information into analyses of correlated traits. This approach has proven useful and is resulting in stronger inferences about the evolution of physiological, morphological and behavioral traits. However, understanding the mechanistic basis for the evolution of complex systems, for example endothermy or heart-lung interactions, remains elusive. Over the past several decades significant advances in cellular and molecular biology have deepened our understanding of the underlying genetic basis for cell-cell signaling and the cascading events that may determine cell, tissue and organ structure and function. Integration of cellular and molecular tools with comparative phylogenetic approaches will provide useful insights into the mechanistic basis for the evolution of physiological systems.