Genome Regulation and Evolutionary Transitions in Animals

Dear Colleagues,

The advances in molecular techniques and bioinformatics methods in recent decades have opened up new possibilities for understanding mechanisms of genome evolution. This, in turn, has allowed for a better insight into how genome structure and regulation conditioned appearance of complex structures and novel or modified physiological functions in the history of life. The role of distant regulatory elements, repetitive elements, long non-coding regions, and genome and gene duplications has been acknowledged as determining factors in animal evolution. Nevertheless, the link between molecular evolution and phenotypic change is one of the least understood phenomena in biology and, at the same time, the question most desired to be answered. How do mutations provide flexibility to an organism to adapt to environmental changes or to fit to a new ecological niche? How does genome reorganization unfold new levels of expression regulation and biochemical interactions in the cells? What mechanisms underlie modifications or emergence of new organs during embryo development? This Special Issue invites original research papers and reviews that provide more details on the topic and contribute to our understanding of how animal body and physiology have originated and evolved.

Prof. Dr. Wojciech Makalowski
Dr. Victoria Shabardina
Guest Editors

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• genome evolution
• phenotypic novelties
• origin of animals
• lifestyle adaptation
• environmental adaptation