Evolutionary Biology: Genome Evolution, Speciation, Coevolution and Origin of Life

This book includes the most essential contributions presented at the 17^th Evolutionary Biology Meeting in Marseille, which took place in September 2013. It consists of 18 chapters organized according to the following categories:

·       Molecular and Genome Evolution

·       Phylogeography of Speciation and Coevolution

·       Exobiology and Origin of Life

The aims of the annual meetings in Marseille, which bring together leading evolutionary biologists and other scientists using evolutionary biology concepts, e.g. for medical research, are to promote the exchange of ideas and to encourage interdisciplinary collaborations. Offering an overview of the latest findings in the field of evolutionary biology, this book represents an invaluable source of information for scientists, teachers and advanced students.

Comparative biochemistry and evolution of milk oligosaccharides of monotremes, marsupials and eutherians.- Genomics-based Insights into the Evolution of Secondary Metabolite Biosynthesis in Actinomycete Bacteria.- A preliminary transcriptomic study of galaxiid fishes reveals a larval glycoprotein gene under strong positive selection.- Land bridge calibration of rates of molecular evolution in a widespread rodent.- Polyploid speciation and genome evolution: Lessons from recent allopolyploids.- Evolutionary divergence in human versus mouse innate immune gene regulation and function.- Evolutionary Genomics of Miniature Inverted-repeat Transposable Elements (MITEs) in Plants.- Horizontal Gene Transfer and the role of Restriction-Modification Systems in bacterial population dynamics.- Quartet partitioning reveals hybrid origins of the Vertebrate.- Evidence for ancient horizontal gene acquisitions in bdelloid rotifers of the genus Adineta.- Evolutionary history of maternal plant-manipulation and larval feeding behaviours in Attelabidae (Coleoptera; Curculionoidea) and evolution of plant-basal weevil interaction.- Microevolution of Insect-Bacterial Mutualists: A Population Genomics Perspective.- Why did terrestrial insect diversity not increase during the angiosperm radiation?- The Evolution and Pollination of Oceanic Bellflowers (Campanulaceae).- In search of phylogeographic patterns in the northeastern Atlantic and adjacent seas.- The Evolutionary Space model to be used for the metagenomic analysis of molecular and adaptive evolution in the bacterial communities.- Topopatric Speciation: from simulations to theory.- A trip through chemical space: why life has evolved the chemistry that it has.