Inheritance of acquired characters in animals: A historical overview, further evidence and mechanistic explanations

Abstract

Since the earliest days of evolutionary thought, the problem of the inheritance of acquired characters has been a central debate. Lamarck, Darwin and several of the greatest figures in the history of biology accepted the inheritance of acquired characters as an established fact, but many geneticists refused to accept its reality. Historically speaking, three epochal episodes -Weismann's Barrier, Kammerer's midwife toad and the Lysenko affair -have made this subject a heated scientific and political controversy. Over the past several decades, a substantial body of reliable experimental evidence has accumulated that environmentally induced or acquired changes in animals can be transmitted to future generations. Several well-documented examples, including diet-induced heritable changes, the inheritance of acquired habit, the inheritance of acquired immunity, the inheritance of characters acquired by blood transfusion (also known as vegetative hybridisation), the inheritance of characters acquired by a dam from her former mates (also known as telegony), are briefly reviewed in this article. There are several fundamentally different mechanisms underlying the inheritance of acquired characters and Darwin explained it only with his Pangenesis, a developmental theory of heredity. It can now be understood in terms of molecular genetics such as epigenetic inheritance, prion inheritance, RNA-mediated inheritance and horizontal gene transfer. It is now time to recognise that a new understanding of the inheritance of acquired characters opens a broader perspective on genetics and evolution.

Microevolution due to pollution in amphibians: A review on the genetic erosion hypothesis

“…Bridges and Semlitsch suggested that one the explanation underlying global amphibians decline can be populations' divergence of genetically determined tolerance to chemicals Bridges andSemlitsch, 2000a, 2000b). Finally, an important concern is the spread of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis infection that is threatening many amphibian populations (Blaustein and Bancroft, 2007;Pounds et al, 2006;Stuart et al, 2004;Mackie and Levinton, 2010;McKenzie and Peterson, 2012;Dinudom et al, 2012;Bal a z et al, 2013;Liu, 2011;Stevenson et al, 2013;Bielby et al, 2013;Blaustein et al, 1994b). This fungus causes lethargic behavior and skin sloughing, and in heavily infected individuals can inhibit electrical heart functions, causing cardiac arrest (Dinudom et al, 2012).…”

“…Daum et al (2012) thus proved the existence of a correlation between higher genetic variability and tolerance to pathogens. However this topic needs more studies to improve our knowledge especially as amphibians are now facing a global chytridiomycosis pandemic (Hoffmann et al, 2010;Stuart et al, 2004;McKenzie and Peterson, 2012;Bal a z et al, 2013;Liu, 2011;Blaustein et al, 1994b).…”

A historical and evolutionary perspective on the biological significance of circulating DNA and extracellular vesicles

“…Lysenko became notorious for forcing Soviet scientists to accept Michurin's teachings or be banned from doing research-or killed. Thus, as a keen supporter of IAC, he led large-scale experiments on graft hybridization and the conversion of winter and spring wheat from the 1930s to the early 1960s (reviewed in [77]). Repetition of these experiments by Western geneticists produced negative results, and Lysenko was declared a forger and a criminal (discussed in detail in [78]).…”

“…The most prominent graft hybridization research was performed by Russian geneticist, horticulturist, and a strong supporter of Darwin's views, Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin (1855-1935). His work resulted in the creation of more than 300 new fruit plant species (reviewed in [77]) and played a major role in (1) the works of Lysenko (''Trofim Denisovich Lysenko''), (2) the investigation of the effects of blood transfusions on hereditary traits by animal breeders (known as animal vegetative hybridization), in particular studies by P.M. Sopikov who transferred multiple physical traits between various bird species (''The connection between IAC and Pangenesis''), (3) the development of the circulating DNA theory by Stroun, Anker, Gahan, and Chayen using graft hybridization in plants (''The concept of circulating DNA''), and (4) more recent immunological tolerance and HGT studies. With regard to Galton's unsuccessful blood transfusion experiments, it was proposed that transfusion incompatibilities due to blood group differences, species differences, the transfusion method, frequency, and duration, and blood volume could be factors that affected the experiment (reviewed in [72]).…”

Is biodiversity aging? Heuristic questions on the taxonomic diversity in the Phanerozoic

“…In 150 Hence, in order to explain the sudden appearance of organization plans totally innovative, evolutionary biologists invoked mechanisms -see Gould (2002) for an extensive synthesis, that include exaptation, polyploidization, neoteny, lateral transmission, and the passages from individual to colony (or society) to super-individual, related to patterns of complexification of genic complexes, up to the confluence of morphophysiological characters of different taxa in a single one through, e. g., endosymbiosis, parasitism, trophism, hybridization even between well distinct groups, up to the confluence of various taxa into a single biological cycle (Landman, 1991;Doolittle, 1998Doolittle, , 2000Goldenfeld & Woese, 2007;Gould et al, 2008;Sanchez-Puerta & Delwiche, 2008;Archibald, 2009;Dagan & Martin, 2009;Kleine et al, 2009;Rogozin et al, 2009;Liu, 2011); see also Williamson (2003); recently, Oakley (2017), with a formal and general approach.…”