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Holobionts

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Cellular-Molecular Mechanisms in Epigenetic Evolutionary Biology

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Abstract

In previous chapters, a differing point of initiation for evolutionary development has been introduced through concepts of information management and cell–cell communication. It has been emphasized that evolution proceeds quite differently than it had been supposed. Instead of random genetic variations based on intermittent replication errors, evolution can now be understood as a continuous self-referential process of self-modification in response to environmental stresses through natural cellular engineering and niche construction. Yet, to further comprehend how the modern synthesis must be altered, an accurate perception of the endpoint of all evolutionary processes must be explained. It is now known that all multicellular macro-organisms are holobionts. Taking ourselves as an example, it is currently estimated that there are many trillions of microbes—bacteria, viruses, fungi, and others—that are in us and on us (Sender et al. 2016). They outnumber our eukaryotic cells by a factor estimated by some to be up to 10 to 1 or more (Turnbaugh et al. 2007). When the total genetic complement of this microbial fraction is considered, the full genetic cohort of the associated microbiome outnumbers our innate genetic complement by perhaps as much as 100 to 1 (Bäckhed et al. 2005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Deptartment of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Harbor–UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA

    John Torday

  2. Physician/Independent researcher, Banner Health/J.C.Lincoln Health Systems, Paradise Valley, AZ, USA

    William Miller Jr.

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Torday, J., Miller Jr., W. (2020). Holobionts. In: Cellular-Molecular Mechanisms in Epigenetic Evolutionary Biology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38133-2_12

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