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Related Concept Videos

Determining the Plane of Cell Division02:13

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Positioning the cell division plane is a critical step during development and cell differentiation, particularly during mitosis when the plane is essential for determining the size of the two daughter cells. The cell division plane is perpendicular to the plane of chromosome segregation, but different types of organisms have different cell division mechanisms to suit their morphology and function. 
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Several external and internal factors influence the initiation and inhibition of cell division. For instance, the death of nearby cells or the release of human growth hormone (hGH) promotes cell division. In contrast, lack of hGH or crowding of cells can inhibit cell division.
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What is Natural Selection?01:32

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Natural selection is an evolutionary process in which individuals with survival-promoting traits reproduce at higher rates. These favorable traits become more common within a population or species. Naturally selected traits initially arise via random genetic mutations. In order for selection to occur, there must be variation within a population, the trait controlling the variation must be heritable, and there must be an evolutionary advantage for variation in the trait.
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Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model System to Study Protein Homeostasis in a Multicellular Organism
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Selection for synchronized cell division in simple multicellular organisms.

Jason Olejarz1, Kamran Kaveh1, Carl Veller2

  • 1Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

Journal of Theoretical Biology
|September 3, 2018
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Multicellular organisms evolve through cell division. This study shows that synchronous and asynchronous cell division strategies are not evolutionarily neutral, impacting natural selection outcomes.

Keywords:
Cell divisionEvolutionary dynamicsMulticellularitySynchronization

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Origin of life
  • Theoretical biology

Background:

  • Multicellularity represents a major evolutionary transition.
  • Understanding the conditions favoring multicellularity is crucial.
  • Cell division is fundamental to the development of multicellular organisms.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the evolutionary implications of synchronous versus asynchronous cell division in early multicellular life.
  • To determine if cell division timing is a neutral evolutionary trait.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a population model to simulate competing simple multicellular organisms.
  • Compared growth dynamics based on synchronous and asynchronous cell division strategies.

Main Results:

  • Natural selection acts differently on synchronous and asynchronous cell division.
  • These division strategies are not evolutionarily equivalent phenotypes.

Conclusions:

  • The timing of cell division is a significant factor in the evolution of multicellularity.
  • Asynchronous cell division may offer distinct evolutionary advantages over synchronous division.