The second biennial meeting of the Pan-American Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology

Author(s):  
Viviane Callier
Author(s):  
Pablo Wappner ◽  
Mario Zurita

The Latin American Society for Developmental Biology (LASDB) is one of the newest societies in this field. However, despite being new, this society already had a highly important impact on the advancement of Developmental Biology across Latin America and globally. From its conception, the society began with the establishment of courses and congresses at the frontiers of knowledge and with the participation of researchers from Latin American countries and other regions, creating an academic and fraternal environment. The first LASDB congress was held in 2003, and recently, in 2019, the LASDB celebrated its tenth meeting, besides the Pan-American congress organized in 2007. Since the creation of this society and throughout its consolidation, the LASDB has been fortunate in receiving the support of highly prominent Developmental Biology societies, with which it has established links and collaboration that have clearly promoted Development Biology not only in Latin America but also in other parts of the world. At this moment, the LASDB looks to the future to continue supporting science in Latin America as it has done up to the present.


1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
DALE R. CALDER ◽  
LESTER D. STEPHENS

Samuel Fessenden Clarke was the leading specialist on hydroids (phylum Cnidaria) in North America over the last quarter of the nineteenth century. During that period he published taxonomic papers on hydroids from both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the continent, from the Gulf of Mexico, and from the eastern Pacific off Central and South America. He also authored a section on hydrozoan biology for “The Riverside Natural History” series. Most of his papers on hydroids were published while he was in his twenties. Clarke described as new 61 nominal species, three nominal genera, and one nominal family, as well as two “varieties” of hydroids. A list of these, and their current taxonomic status, appears in the present work. Clarke consistently provided sound descriptions and locality data for all supposed new species, and drew accurate illustrations of most of them. His research on Hydrozoa, beyond alphataxonomy, was directed towards faunal distributions and the use of hydroid assemblages as biogeographic indicators. In addition to investigations on hydroids, Clarke carried out research on the developmental biology of amphibians and reptiles. His doctoral dissertation at Johns Hopkins University was based on the embryology of the “Spotted Salamander” (=Yellow-spotted Salamander), and he published a major paper on the habits and embryology of the American Alligator. Most of Clarke's career was devoted to academic duties at Williams College, Massachusetts, where he was recognized as a dedicated and inspiring teacher. He served the American Society of Naturalists in various capacities, including a term as its president, was an influential trustee of the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, and promoted the study of science in American schools.


Author(s):  
Alan C. Love

Many researchers have argued that evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) constitutes a challenge to standard evolutionary theory, requiring the explicit inclusion of developmental processes that generate variation and attention to organismal form (rather than adaptive function). An analysis of these developmental-form challenges indicates that the primary concern is not the inclusion of specific content but the epistemic organization or structure of evolutionary theory. Proponents of developmental-form challenges favor moving their considerations to a more central location in evolutionary theorizing, in part because of a commitment to the value of mechanistic explanation. This chapter argues there are multiple legitimate structures for evolutionary theory, instead of a single, overarching or canonical organization, and different theory presentations can be understood as idealizations that serve different investigative and explanatory goals in evolutionary inquiry.


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Angelica Miglioli ◽  
Laura Canesi ◽  
Isa D. L. Gomes ◽  
Michael Schubert ◽  
Rémi Dumollard

Nuclear Receptors (NRs) are a superfamily of transcription factors specific to metazoans that have the unique ability to directly translate the message of a signaling molecule into a transcriptional response. In vertebrates, NRs are pivotal players in countless processes of both embryonic and adult physiology, with embryonic development being one of the most dynamic periods of NR activity. Accumulating evidence suggests that NR signaling is also a major regulator of development in marine invertebrates, although ligands and transactivation dynamics are not necessarily conserved with respect to vertebrates. The explosion of genome sequencing projects and the interpretation of the resulting data in a phylogenetic context allowed significant progress toward an understanding of NR superfamily evolution, both in terms of molecular activities and developmental functions. In this context, marine invertebrates have been crucial for characterizing the ancestral states of NR-ligand interactions, further strengthening the importance of these organisms in the field of evolutionary developmental biology.


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