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Devo-Evo of Cell Types

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Abstract

Cell types are populations of cells that are developmentally individuated, adapted to perform a specific set of functions and form lineages of evolutionary descent. Cell types originate in evolution as a major way of how the bodies of multicellular organisms increase in complexity. The origin and evolution of cell types is thus a central issue in evolutionary developmental biology. In this chapter, the cell type concept is explained from the developmental and evolutionary perspective. Developmentally, cell type identity is determined by the activation of a core gene regulatory network which produce transcription factor proteins that form a cell type-specific core regulatory complexes. In evolution, cell types originate most likely from differentiation from an ancestral cell type. As a consequence, cell types form lineages that are connected by a tree to descent similar to a gene tree of genes related by gene duplication. To unravel the molecular mechanisms of cell type origination is a major current challenge of evolutionary developmental biology.

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Correspondence to Günter P. Wagner .

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© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Wagner, G.P. (2019). Devo-Evo of Cell Types. In: Nuno de la Rosa, L., Müller, G. (eds) Evolutionary Developmental Biology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33038-9_153-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33038-9_153-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-33038-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-33038-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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