Abstract
The environment can play a significant role in the production of phenotypes. However, the developmental mechanisms by which the environmental agents effect normal development are just becoming known. At least three paths have been found through which the environment can modify gene activity. The first is the neuroendocrine route. Here, the nervous system monitors the environment and transfers signals to the endocrine system. The endocrine hormones can then alter gene expression. The second route involves environmental factors that change the methylation pattern of genes, thereby altering their transcriptional capabilities. The third route involves the direct induction of gene expression in the host by microbial symbionts. The normal regulation of phenotype production by the environment should be considered a normal component of development and developmental biology.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams M B 1980 Severtsov and Schmalhausen: Russian morphology and the evolutionary synthesis; inThe evolutionary synthesis (eds) E Mayr and W B Provine (Cambridge: Harvard University Press) pp 193–225
Aitken R J, Koopman P and Lewis SEM 2004 Seeds of concern;Nature (London) 432 48–52
Bäckhed F, Ding H, Wang T, Hooper L V, Koh G Y, Nagy A, Semenkovitch C F and Gordon J I 2004 The gut microbiota as an environmental factor that regulates fat storage;Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101 15718–15723
Belaid B, Richard-Mercier N, Pieau C and Dorizzi M 2001 Sex reversal and aromatase in the European pond turtle: treatment with letrozol after thermosensitive period for sex determination;J. Exp. Zool. 290 490–497
Berson J F, Frank D W, Calvo P A, Bieler B M and Marks M S 2000 A common temperature-sensitive allelic form of human tyrosinase is retained in the endoplasmic reticulum at the nonpermissive temperature;J. Biol. Chem. 275 12281–12289
Bolker J A 1995 Model systems in developmental biology;BioEssays 17 451–455
Brakefield P M and Reitsma N 1991 Phenotypic plasticity, seasonal climate, and the population biology ofBicyclus butterflies (Satyridae) in Malawi;Ecol. Entomol. 16 291–303
Brakefield P M, Gates J, Keys D, Kesbeke F, Wijngaarden P J, Montelro A, French V and Caroll SB 1996 Development, plasticity, and evolution of butterfly eyespot patterns;Nature (London) 384 236–242
Bry L, Falk P G, Midtvedt T and Gordon J I 1996 A model of host-microbial interactions in an open mammalian ecosystem;Science 273 1380–1383
Bull J J 1980 Sex determination in reptiles;Q. Rev. Biol. 55 3–21
Cebra J J 1999 Influences of microbiota on intestinal immune system development;Am. J. Clin. Nutr. (Suppl.) 69 1046S-1051S
Condon J C, Jeyasuria P, Faust J M and Mendelson C R 2004 Surfactant protein secreted by the maturing mouse fetal lung acts as a hormone that signals the initiation of parturition;Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101 4978–4983
Cox G F, Burger J, Lip V, Mau U A, Sperling K, Wu B L and Horsthemke B 2002 Intracytoplasmic sperm injection may increase the risk of imprinting defects;Am. J. Hum. Genet. 71 162–164
DeBaun M R, Niemitz E L and Feinberg A P 2003 Association of in vitro fertilization with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome and epigenetic alterations ofLIT1 andH19;Am. J. Hum. Genet. 72 156–160
Desvages G, Girondot M and Pieau C 1993 Sensitive stages for the effects of temperature on gonadal aromatase activity in embryos of the marine turtle;Dermochelys coriacea;Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 92 54–61
Doherty A S, Mann M R, Tremblay K D, Bartolomei M S and Schultz R M 2000 Differential effects of culture on imprinted H19 expression in the preimplantation mouse embryo;Biol. Reprod. 62 1526–1535
Gilbert S F 1996 Enzyme adaptation and the entrance of molecular biology into embryology; inThe philosophy and history of molecular biology New perspectives (ed.) S Sarkar (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers) pp 101–123
Gilbert S F 2001 Ecological developmental biology: Developmental biology meets the real world;Dev. Biol. 233 1–12
Gilbert S F 2002 The genome in its ecological context: Philosophical perspectives on interspecies epigenesis;Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 981 202–218
Gilbert S F and Bolker J 2003 Ecological developmental biology: Preface to the symposium;Evol. Dev. 5 3–8
Gould S J 1977Ontogeny and phylogeny (Cambridge: Harvard University Press)
Hertwig O 1894Zeitund Streitfragen der Biologie I. Präformation oder Epigenese? Grundzüge einer Entwicklungstheorie der Organismen. Gustav Fischer Jena. Translated asThe biological problem of to-day: Preformation or epigenesis? (P C Mitchell transl.) (New York: Macmillan)
Hooper L V, Bry L, Falk P G and Gordon J I 1998 Hostmicrobial symbiosis in the mammalian intestine: exploring an internal ecosystem;BioEssays 20 336–343
Hooper L V, Wong M H, Thelin A, Hansson L, Falk P G and Gordon J I 2001 Molecular analysis of commensal hostmicrobial relationships in the intestine;Science 291 881–884
Jablonka E and Lamb M J 2002 The changing concept of epigenetics;Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 981 82–96
Jeyasuria P, Roosenburg W M and Place A R 1994 Role of P-450 aromatase in sex determination of the diamondback terrapin;Malaclemys terrapin;J. Exp. Zool. 270 95–111
Khosla S, Dean W, Brown D, Reik W and Feil R 2001 Culture of preimplantation mouse embryos affects fetal development and the expression of imprinted genes;Biol. Reprod. 64 918–926
King R A, Townsend D, Oetting W, Summers C G, Olds D P, White J G and Spritz R A 1991 Temperature-sensitive tyrosinase associated with peripheral pigmentation in oculocutaneous albinism;J. Clin. Invest. 87 1046–1053
Koch P B and Buchmann D 1987 Hormonal control of seasonal morphs by the timing of ecdysteroid release inAraschnia levana (Nymphalidae: Lepidoptera);J. Insect Physiol. 36 159–164
Koch P B, Brakefield P M and Kesbeke F 1996 Ecdysteroids control eyespot size and wing colour pattern in the polyphenic butterflyBicyclus anynana (Lepidoptera Satyridae);J. Insect. Physiol. 42 223–230
Kwon B S, Halaban R and Chintamaneni C 1989 Molecular basis of mouse Himalayan mutation;Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 161 252–260
Levit G S, Hossfeld U and Olsson L 2004 The integration of Darwinism and evolutionary morphology: Alexej Nikolajevich Sewertzoff (1866-1936) and the developmental basis of evolutionary change;J. Exp. Zool. B 302 343–354
Lewontin R C 1983 Gene, organism and environment; inEvolution from molecules to men (ed.) D S Bendall (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) pp 273–285
Lewontin R 2000The triple helix: Gene organism and environment (Cambridge: Harvard University Press)
Lewontin R and Levins R 1976 The problem of Lysenkoism; inThe radicalisation of science (eds) H Rose and S Rose (London: Macmillan) pp 32–65
Lindegren C C 1966The cold war in biology (Ann Arbor: Planarian Press)
McFall-Ngai M J 2002 Unseen forces: the influence of bacteria on animal development;Dev. Biol. 242 1–14
Nijhout H F 1991The development and evolution of butterfly wing patterns (Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press)
Nijhout H F 1999 Control mechanisms of polyphonic development in insects;BioScience 49 181–192
Nijhout H F 2003 Development and evolution of adaptive polyphenisms;Evo. Dev. 5 9–18
Nyhart L K 1995Biology takes form: Animal morphology and the German Universities 1800-1900 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press)
Odling-Smee F J, Laland K N and Feldman M S 2003Niche construction The neglected process in evolution (Princeton: Princeton University Press)
Perry D and Good R 1968 Experimental arrest and induction of lymphoid development in lymphoepithelial tissues of rabbits;Lab. Invest. 18 15–26
Rawls J F, Samuel B F and Gordon J I 2004 Gnotobiotic zebrafish reveal evolutionarily conserved responses to the gut microbiota;Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101 4596–4601
Rhee K-J, Sethupathi P, Driks A, Lanning D K and Knight K L 2004 Role of commensal bacteria in development of gutassociated lymphoid tissues and preimmune antibody repertoire;J. Immunol. 172 1118–1124
Rook G A and Stanford J L 1998 Give us this day our daily germs;Immunol. Today 19 113–116
Sapp J 1987Beyond the gene (New York: Oxford University Press)
Savage D C 1977 Microbial ecology of the gastrointestinal tract;Annu. Rev. Micorobiol. 31 107–133
Schmalhausen I I 1949Factors of evolution: The theory of stabilizing selection (Chicago: University of Chicago Press)
Stappenbeck T S, Hooper L V and Gordon J I 2002 Developmental regulation of intestinal angiogenesis by indigenous microbes via Paneth cells;Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99 15451–15455
Steidler L 2001 Microbiological and immunological strategies for treatment of inflammatory bowel disease;Microbes Infect. 3 1157–1166
Sultan S E 2003 Phenotypic plasticity in plants: a case study in ecological development;Evo. Dev. 5 25–33
Tlaskalova-Hogenovava H and Stepankova R 1980 Development of antibody formation in germ-free and conventionally reared rabbits the role of intestinal lymphoid tissue in antibody formation toE. coli antigens;Folia Biol. 26 81
Umesaki Y 1984 Immunohistochemical and biochemical demonstration of the change in glycolipid composition of the intestinal epithelial cell surface in mice in relation to epithelial cell differentiation and bacterial association;J. Histochem. Cytochem. 32 299–304
van der Weele C 1999Images of development: Environmental causes in ontogeny (Albany: SUNY Press)
Waddington C H 1953 Genetic assimilation of an acquired character;Evolution 7 118–126
Waterland R A and Jirtle R L 2003a Transposable elements: Tragets for early nutritional effects of epigenetic gene regulation;Mol. Cell. Biol. 23 5293–5300
Waterland R A and Jirtle R L 2003b Developmental relaxation of insulin-like growth factor 2 imprinting in the kidney is determined by weanling diet;Pediat. Res. (Suppl.) 53 5A
Waterland R A and Jirtle R L 2004 Early nutrition, epigenetic changes at transposons and imprinted genes, and enhanced susceptibility to adult chronic diseases;Nutrition 20 63–68
Weaver I C, Cervoni N, Champagne F A, D-Alessio A C, Sharma S, Seckl J R, Dymov S, Szyf M and Meaney M J 2004 Epigenetic programming by maternal behavior;Nature Neurosci. 7 847–854
Weismann A 1875 “Über den Saison-Dimorphismus der Schmetterlinge; inStudien zur Descendenz-Theorie (Leipzig: Engelmann)
West-Eberhard M J 2004Developmental plasticity and evolution (New York: Oxford University Press)
Willingham E, Baldwin R, Skipper J K and Crews D 2000 Aromatase activity during embryogenesis in the brain and adrenalkidney-gonad of the red-eared slider turtle; a species with temperature-dependent sex determination;Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 119 202–207
Wilson R Det al 2003 The use of folic acid for the prevention of neural tube defects and other congenital anomalies;J. Obstet. Gynaecol. Can. 25 959–973
Xu J and Gordon J I 2004 Honor thy symbionts;Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100 10452–10459
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gilbert, S.F. Mechanisms for the environmental regulation of gene expression: Ecological aspects of animal development. J Biosci 30, 65–74 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02705151
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02705151