NATURE AT WORK: ONGOING SAGA OF EVOLUTION

Transcription

1 NATURE AT WORK: ONGOING SAGA OF EVOLUTION Publication of The National Academy of Sciences, India 123

2 (ebook) 2010 The National Academy of Sciences, India

3 CONTENTS Title Foreword Preface Page No. v vii Prof. Asis Datta, President, The National Academy of Sciences, India Legacy Continuum 1. The descent of humans and the Darwinian unification of all life 1 P. Dayanandan 2. Ida: A link to human evolution 21 V.P. Sharma 3. Darwin s theory of evolution: Survival of nature s fit! 33 Veena Tandon and Gaurangi Maitra 4. The life and research of JBS Haldane in India with special reference to Charles Darwin 51 Krishna R. Dronamraju 5. Charles Darwin: A driving force for humanity toward agnosticism 59 Amit Sharma Viruses, Microbes and Fungi 6. Phylogeographic evolution of plant viruses 75 Anupam Varma and Shelly Praveen 7. Evolution of HIV-1 in India 93 Pradeep Seth 8. Darwin and microbial evolution 103 T.K. Adhya and M. Patra 9. Evolutionary relationships among cyanobacteria, algae and plants: Revisited in the light of Darwinism 119 Radha Prasanna and B.D. Kaushik 10. Biodiversity, phylogeny and evolution of fungi 141 C. Manoharachari, I.K. Kunwar and S. Vishnuvardhan Reddy Insects: Evolution in Action 11. The origin of reproductive isolating mechanisms is an important event in the process of speciation: Evidences from Drosophila 159 B.N. Singh

4 12. Adaptive radiation and insects 175 V.V. Ramamurthy and Asha Gaur 13. Insights from mosquito evolution: Patterns, tempo and speciation 197 Karamjit Singh Rai 14. The saga of pollination biology 219 Genomics Rajesh Tandon and H.Y. Mohan Ram 15. Darwinian evolution and post developments in genomics 241 Arun Kumar Sharma 16. Pathogen pressure and molecular evolutionary genetics of innate immunity genes in humans 249 Partha P. Majumder Unique Case Studies 17. Macroevolution in relation to the drift models of the Indian plate 267 Ashok Sahni and R.S. Loyal 18. Testing the melanism-desiccation hypothesis: A case study in Darwinian evolution 279 Ravi Parkash 19. Origin and evolution of human malaria parasite, P. falciparum and P. vivax 307 Nidhi Datta and V.S. Chauhan 20. Evolutionary trends in soil-inhabiting 319 Mahlaqa Choudhary and M. Shamim Jairajpuri 21. Evolution of the cerebral cortex in amniotes: Anatomical consideration of neuronal types 329 U.C. Srivastava and R.C. Maurya 22. Medicinal and aromatic plants: A case example of evolving secondary metabolome and biochemical pathway diversity 355 Suman P.S. Khanuja, Tripta Jhang and Ajit Kumar Shasany 23. Conservation of Himalayan bioresources: An ecological, economical and evolutionary perspective 369 Lok Man S. Palni and Ranbeer S. Rawal Color Images Section 395

5 Foreword Charles Robert Darwin was born on 12th February, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. Darwin shares his birthday with U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Both were crusaders against slavery: Darwin disliked slavery and Lincoln abolished it. Darwin was a born naturalist and showed keen interest in nature from the very beginning. A breakthrough came when he was selected as a naturalist on the H.M.S. Beagle ship. His five year voyage on the Beagle started in 1931 and was completed in This was followed by publication of his research findings that challenged creationist views of the church. Darwin conducted a study of fossils and geological records and concluded rightly, that all life forms emerged over millions of years of evolution through the force of natural selection. In 1959 Darwin published his work on evolution in a book titled On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races. The book was received as a scientific bomb shell and has since changed the human understanding of life forever. Today Darwin s ideas on evolution provide foundation to modern biology. Darwin died of a heart attack on the 19th April 1882 and was buried in Westminster Abbey near the grave of Sir Isaac Newton. The scientific community is celebrating Darwin s bicentenary worldwide in honor of his ingenuity, scientific thought, conviction and courage. Coinciding with the bicentenary celebrations are three major discoveries in paleontology, namely Darwinius masillae from Germany, skeleton of winged Dinosaur from China and fossilized Dinosaur eggs from India. The National Academy of Sciences, India (in short NASI) at Allahabad is paying tribute to British naturalist Charles Darwin by compilation of articles titled Nature at Work: Ongoing Saga of Evolution. Twenty three contributory articles bring out many facets of evolution and human understanding in this book. Articles begin with the Darwin s legacy of the descent of man, Ida the link to human evolution, theory of evolution, Haldane in India, and agnosticism. The second section describes the evolution of microbes, viruses and fungi affecting health and environment worldwide. Next section deals with the evolution of insects for understanding basic biology, adaptations, speciation, and interplaying with plants in pollination. The section on Genomics brings out the post-darwinian developments in biology providing proof of unification at the molecular level and the discoveries of the cause of many genetic disorders. Finally there are seven unique case studies representing various facets of macro and micro Darwinian evolution taking examples from malaria, nematodes, amniotes, v

6 and implications for health and well being, hunger and food, bio-resources and conservation of biodiversity. In summary the book brings out the universality of Darwin s concept of evolution ending in unification of life without exception from gross to molecular basis of the Tree of Life, a continuum. Many friends have been of great help in the preparation of this book. I wish to acknowledge the help and suggestions inter alia, 2009 Council of the NASI, Prof. M.G.K. Menon, Prof. H.Y. Mohan Ram, Prof. K.S. Rai, Prof. Anupam Varma, Dr. Amit Sharma, Prof. Veena Tandon, Prof. P. Dayanandan, Prof. R.C. Sobti, Dr. Mrs. Manju Sharma, and of course all the authors and co-authors for their excellent work on evolution. I am particularly grateful to the team of Springer India Pvt. Ltd. for their commitment and hard work that made it possible to bring out this excellent book on Darwin s bicentenary. Finally, on my behalf and the NASI, I wish to thank Prof. Ananda Chakrabarty, distinguished Professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago, for the release of this book on 14th December 2009 during the 79th Annual Session of the Academy hosted by Calcutta University, Kolkata. Vinod P. Sharma CRDT, IIT, Delhi Dated: 17th October, 2009 vi

7 Preface It is a pleasure that the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) Allahabad is bringing out a book titled The Nature at Work: Ongoing Saga of Evolution to celebrate bicentenary of Charles Robert Darwin. The book is edited by Dr. V.P. Sharma, former President, NASI. Charles Darwin was an English naturalist who realized and presented compelling evidences that all species of life have developed over time from common ancestors. Darwin s scientific discoveries are the unifying theories of the life sciences. The theory of evolution really does explain everything in biology. The phenomena that Darwin understood in broad brush strokes can now be accounted for in the precise language of DNA. He established himself as an eminent geologist/biologist through his observations, theories and ideas and became famous as a popular author. This book is primarily for those who want to understand various theories of Charles Darwin. We have selected the most important parts of his writings and have added learned annotations. These annotations are highly precious and useful, especially for academics. This book is divided into five themes each clearly written by the eminent dignitaries/scientists of India. The text is well written and factual without being overwhelming. I found the information very interesting and well presented. We desire to express our gratitude to all the contributors who were kind enough to provide us relevant information on highly specialized areas of modern understanding of evolution and unification of life. I also believe that the book would provide an impression of his theories along with some new ideas which will serve as an inspiration and challenge for the professionals and enthusiast of science, young and old alike. A pressus book for personal possession, the libraries and an important item of gift of lasting value. Asis Datta President, NASI, New Delhi Dated: 14th October, 2009 vii