The Evolution of the Genome is a book edited by Dr. T. Ryan Gregory

T. Ryan Gregory

Dr. T. Ryan Gregory is a Canadian evolutionary biologist and genome biologist and a tenured Associate Professor in the and the at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada....

 of the University of Guelph

University of Guelph

The University of Guelph, also known as U of G, is a comprehensive public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College, the Macdonald Institute, and the Ontario Veterinary College...

, in Guelph

Guelph

Guelph is a city in Ontario, Canada.Guelph may also refer to:* Guelph , consisting of the City of Guelph, Ontario* Guelph , as the above* University of Guelph, in the same city...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, covering a wide range of topics in the study of genome

Genome

In modern molecular biology and genetics, the genome is the entirety of an organism's hereditary information. It is encoded either in DNA or, for many types of virus, in RNA. The genome includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA/RNA....

 evolution

Evolution

Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...

. The book includes chapters by 16 authors and deals with the topics of genome size

Genome size

Genome size is the total amount of DNA contained within one copy of a single genome. It is typically measured in terms of mass in picograms or less frequently in Daltons or as the total number of nucleotide base pairs typically in megabases . One picogram equals 978 megabases...

 evolution

Evolution

Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...

, genomic parasites

Selfish DNA

Selfish DNA refers to those sequences of DNA which, in their purest form, have two distinct properties: the DNA sequence spreads by forming additional copies of itself within the genome; and it makes no specific contribution to the reproductive success of its host organism.This idea was sketched...

 (transposable elements and B chromosomes), polyploidy

Polyploidy

Polyploid is a term used to describe cells and organisms containing more than two paired sets of chromosomes. Most eukaryotic species are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes — one set inherited from each parent. However polyploidy is found in some organisms and is especially common...

, gene duplication

Gene duplication

Gene duplication is any duplication of a region of DNA that contains a gene; it may occur as an error in homologous recombination, a retrotransposition event, or duplication of an entire chromosome.The second copy of the gene is often free from selective pressure — that is, mutations of it have no...

, ancient genome duplication, comparative genomics

Comparative genomics

Comparative genomics is the study of the relationship of genome structure and function across different biological species or strains. Comparative genomics is an attempt to take advantage of the information provided by the signatures of selection to understand the function and evolutionary...

, and macroevolution

Macroevolution

Macroevolution is evolution on a scale of separated gene pools. Macroevolutionary studies focus on change that occurs at or above the level of species, in contrast with microevolution, which refers to smaller evolutionary changes within a species or population.The process of speciation may fall...

. It was released in December 2004 by Elsevier

Elsevier

Elsevier is a publishing company which publishes medical and scientific literature. It is a part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has operations in the United Kingdom, USA and elsewhere....

, ISBN 0-12-301463-8.

Chapters and authors

Part I: The C-value enigma

• Chapter 1: Genome size evolution in animals

by T. Ryan Gregory

• Chapter 2: Genome size evolution in plants

by Michael D. Bennett and Ilia J. Leitch

Part II: The evolution of genomic parasites

• Chapter 3: Transposable elements

by Margaret G. Kidwell

• Chapter 4: B chromosomes

by Juan Pedro M. Camacho

Part III: Duplications, duplications...

• Chapter 5: Small-scale gene duplications

by John S. Taylor and Jeroen Raes

• Chapter 6: Large-scale gene and ancient genome duplications

by Yves Van de Peer and Axel Meyer

Part IV: ...and more duplications

• Chapter 7: Polyploidy in plants

by Jennifer Tate, Douglas E. Soltis, and Pamela S. Soltis

• Chapter 8: Polyploidy in animals

by T. Ryan Gregory and Barbara K. Mable

Part V: Sequence and structure

• Chapter 9: Comparative genomics in eukaryotes

by Alan Filipski and Sudhir Kumar

• Chapter 10: Comparative genomics in prokaryotes

by T. Ryan Gregory and Rob DeSalle

Part VI: The genome in evolution

• Chapter 11: Macroevolution and the genome

by T. Ryan Gregory

Trivia

• The cover contains numerous images of animal
  Animal
  Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
  
  s, plants, and other organisms, most of which apparently have personal meaning for Dr. Gregory, including one image on the back cover that is reported to be a modified image of his own red blood cells.
• The timeline of production discussed in the preface indicates that Dr. Gregory began work on this book while still a graduate student.
• As described in the preface, the book was originally to be published by Academic Press
  Academic Press
  Academic Press is an academic book publisher. Originally independent, it was acquired by Harcourt, Brace & World in 1969. Reed Elsevier bought Harcourt in 2000, and Academic Press is now an imprint of Elsevier....
  
  , but part way through production the company was purchased by Elsevier
  Elsevier
  Elsevier is a publishing company which publishes medical and scientific literature. It is a part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has operations in the United Kingdom, USA and elsewhere....
  
  . The former Academic Press editor in charge of the project left the company while the book was being produced.

External links

• Author's book page
• The Gregory Lab at the University of Guelph
• Animal Genome Size Database
• Plant DNA C-values Database
• Fungal Genome Size Database
• Genomes OnLine Database (GOLD)
• TIGR Comprehensive Microbial Resource
• Genome News Network