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Microorganisms evolve rapidly due to their large population sizes and short generation times, often exhibiting measurable changes within days under laboratory conditions. Natural selection acts on standing genetic variation, enabling the retention and amplification of beneficial traits that confer fitness advantages in changing environments.Adaptive Pigment Regulation in RhodobacterIn Rhodobacter, a genus of purple non-sulfur bacteria, light-harvesting pigments such as bacteriochlorophyll and...
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Natural selection among replicators, interactors and transactors.

Donato Bergandi1

  • 1Centre Alexandre Koyré, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, 75005 Paris, France. bergandi@mnhn.fr

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Summary

This study introduces the "transactor" as a new concept in evolutionary biology, bridging the organism-environment divide. This transactional perspective offers a unified view of evolution, emphasizing replication and interaction for emergentist and systemic processes.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Ecology
  • Philosophy of Science

Background:

  • Replicator and interactor concepts unify evolutionary perspectives beyond traditional biological levels.
  • Existing interactional perspectives create a dichotomy between organisms and their environment.

Discussion:

  • Proposes the
  • transactional perspective
  • using the concept of the
  • transactor
  • as a novel ontological and methodological category.
  • This perspective bridges the organism-environment dichotomy inherent in interactional views of evolution.

Key Insights:

  • The transactor concept provides a unified framework for understanding evolution.
  • It supports an emergentist and systemic view of evolutionary and developmental processes.
  • Integrates replication and interaction as fundamental operating processes in evolution.

Outlook:

  • Potential to reframe ontological and epistemological discussions in evolutionary studies.
  • Facilitates a more integrated understanding of biological systems and their environments.
  • Offers new methodological approaches for studying evolutionary and developmental dynamics.