THE MOLECULAR EVOLUTION OF DEVELOPMENT

Morphological differences between species, from simple single-characte r differences to large-scale variation in body plans, can be traced to changes in the timing and location of developmental events. This has led to a growing interest in understanding the genetic basis behind th e evolution of developmental systems. Molecular evolutionary genetics provides one of several approaches to dissecting the evolution of deve lopmental systems, by allowing us to reconstruct the history of develo pmental genetic pathways, infer the origin and diversification of deve lopmental gene functions, and assess the relative contributions of var ious evolutionary forces in shaping regulatory gene evolution. BioEssa ys 20:700-711, 1998. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.