APPLICATION OF MORPHOLOGICAL TRENDS OF EVOLUTION TO PHYLOGENETIC INTERPRETATION OF CHEMOTAXONOMIC DATA

Data on the membranotropic action of triterpene glycosides from sea cu cumbers (Holothurioidea, Echinodermata) are used as a model for studyi ng the evolution of biochemical adaptations. Conceptions such as the t heory of modes of organogenesis, and the theory of phylembryogeneses d eveloped by the Russian school of evolutionary morphology, and other m orphological trends of evolutionary transformations of anatomical stru ctures are applicable to the phylogenetic interpretation of chemotaxon omic data. The processes of ontogenesis and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites are compared within the framework of the theory of phylemb ryogeneses. The deep inner similarity of these processes are shown. Co ncurrence of the modes of phylembryogenesis noted by Severtsov and the principles of micromolecular evolution noted by Gottlieb and Harborne are also shown. The biological significance of presence or absence of substances, (or some features of these substances) for the whole orga nism that produced them is the main criterion we propose as an approac h for polarization of a biochemical phylogenetic series. The applicati on of methods of comparative anatomy to the molecular level for purpos es of investigation on evolution of biomolecules and their functions c ould be called ''chemical morphology''. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limite d