Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.

USA
Vol. 94, pp. 7691–7697, July 1997
Colloquium Paper

This paper serves as an introduction to the following papers which were presented at a colloquium entitled ‘‘Genetics and
the Origin of Species,’’ organized by Francisco J. Ayala and Walter M. Fitch, held January 30–February 1, 1997, at the
National Academy of Sciences Beckman Center in Irvine, CA.

Genetics and the origin of species: An introduction

FRANCISCO J. AYALA* AND WALTER M. FITCH
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-2525

Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900–1975) was a key author of the have the best chance of surviving and of procreating
Synthetic Theory of Evolution, also known as the Modern their kind? On the other hand, we may feel sure that any
Synthesis of Evolutionary Theory, which embodies a complex variation in the least degree injurious would be rigidly
array of biological knowledge centered around Darwin’s the- destroyed. This preservation of favorable variations and
ory of evolution by natural selection couched in genetic terms. the rejection of injurious variations, I call Natural Se-
The epithet ‘‘synthetic’’ primarily alludes to the artful combi- lection.’’
nation of Darwin’s natural selection with Mendelian genetics, Darwin’s argument is that natural selection emerges as a
but also to the incorporation of relevant knowledge from necessary conclusion from two premises: (i) the assumption
biological disciplines. In the 1920s and 1930s several theorists that hereditary variations useful to organisms occur, and (ii)
had developed mathematical accounts of natural selection as the observation that more individuals are produced than can
a genetic process. Dobzhansky’s Genetics and the Origin of possibly survive. The most serious difficulty facing Darwin’s
Species, published in 1937 (1), refashioned their formulations evolutionary theory was the lack of an adequate theory of
in language that biologists could understand, dressed the inheritance that would account for the preservation through
equations with natural history and experimental population the generations of the variations on which natural selection was
genetics, and extended the synthesis to speciation and other supposed to act. Theories then current of ‘‘blending inheri-
cardinal problems omitted by the mathematicians. tance’’ proposed that offspring merely struck an average
The current Synthetic Theory has grown around that orig-
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between the characteristics of their parents. As Darwin be-

inal synthesis. It is not just one single hypothesis (or theory) came aware, blending inheritance could not account for the
with its corroborating evidence, but a multidisciplinary body of conservation of variations, because differences among variant
knowledge bearing on biological evolution, an amalgam of offspring would be halved each generation, rapidly reducing
well-established theories and working hypotheses, together the original variation to the average of the preexisting char-
with the observations and experiments that support accepted acteristics.
hypotheses (and falsify rejected ones), which jointly seek to The missing link in Darwin’s argument was provided by
explain the evolutionary process and its outcomes. These Mendelian genetics. About the time the Origin of Species was
hypotheses, observations, and experiments often originate in published, the Augustinian monk Gregor Mendel was per-
disciplines such as genetics, embryology, zoology, botany, forming a long series of experiments with peas in the garden
paleontology, and molecular biology. Currently, the ‘‘synthet- of his monastery in Brünn, Austria-Hungary (now Brno, Czech
ic’’ epithet is often omitted and the compilation of relevant Republic). Mendel’s paper, published in 1866, formulated the
knowledge is simply known as the Theory of Evolution. This fundamental principles of a theory of heredity that accounts
is still expanding, just like one of those ‘‘holding’’ business for biological inheritance through particulate factors (now
corporations that have grown around an original enterprise, called ‘‘genes’’) inherited one from each parent, which do not
but continue incorporating new profitable enterprises and mix or blend but segregate in the formation of the sex cells, or
discarding unprofitable ones. gametes (3).
Mendel’s discoveries, however, remained unknown to Dar-
Darwin to Dobzhansky win and, indeed, did not become generally known until 1900,
when they were simultaneously rediscovered by several scien-
Darwin summarized the theory of evolution by natural selec- tists. In the meantime, Darwinism in the latter part of the 19th
tion in the Origin of Species (2) as follows: century faced an alternative evolutionary theory known as
‘‘As many more individuals are produced than can neo-Lamarckism. This hypothesis shared with Lamarck’s orig-
possibly survive, there must in every case be a struggle inal theory the importance of use and disuse in the develop-
for existence, either one individual with another of the ment and obliteration of organs, and it added the notion that
same species, or with the individuals of distinct species, the environment acts directly on organic structures, which
or with the physical conditions of life. . . . Can it, then, explained their adaptation to the ways of life and environments
be thought improbable, seeing that variations useful to of each organism. Adherents of this theory rejected natural
man have undoubtedly occurred, that other variations, selection as an explanation for adaptation to the environment.
useful in some way to each being in the great and The rediscovery in 1900 of Mendel’s theory of heredity led
complex battle of life, should sometimes occur in the to an emphasis on the role of heredity in evolution. In the
course of thousands of generations? If such do occur, Netherlands, Hugo de Vries (4) proposed a new theory of
can we doubt (remembering that many more individuals evolution known as mutationism, which essentially did away
are born than can possibly survive) that individuals
having any advantage, however slight, over others, would Abbreviation: MHC, major histocompatibility complex.
*To whom reprint requests should be addressed at: Department of
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 321
© 1997 by The National Academy of Sciences 0027-8424y97y947691-7$2.00y0 Steinhaus Hall, Irvine, CA 92697-2525. e-mail: FJAYALA@
PNAS is available online at http:yywww.pnas.org. UCI.EDU.

7691
 7692 Colloquium Paper: Ayala and Fitch Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94 (1997)

with natural selection as a major evolutionary process. Ac- different ways. First, the sequence of the evolutionary events
cording to de Vries (joined by other geneticists such as William as they have actually taken place in the past history of various
Bateson in England), there are two kinds of variation in organisms may be traced. Second, the mechanisms that bring
organisms. One is the ‘‘ordinary’’ variation observed among about evolutionary changes may be studied. . . . The present
individuals of a species, which is of no lasting consequence in book is dedicated to a discussion of the mechanisms of species
evolution because, according to de Vries, it could not ‘‘lead to formation in terms of the known facts and theories of genet-
a transgression of the species border even under conditions of ics.’’ The book starts with a consideration of organic diversity
the most stringent and continued selection.’’ The other consists and discontinuity. Successively, it deals with mutation as the
of the changes brought about by mutations, spontaneous origin of hereditary variation, the role of chromosomal rear-
alterations of genes that yield large modifications of the rangements, variation in natural populations, natural selection,
organism and give rise to new species. According to de Vries, the origin of species by polyploidy, the origin of species through
a new species originates suddenly, produced by the existing one gradual development of reproductive isolation, physiological
without any visible preparation and without transition. and genetic differences between species, and the concept of
Mutationism was opposed by many naturalists, and in species as natural units. The book’s organization was largely
particular by the so-called biometricians, led by Briton Karl preserved in the second (1941) and third (1951) editions, and
Pearson, who defended Darwinian natural selection as the in Genetics of the Evolutionary Process (14), published in 1970,
major cause of evolution through the cumulative effects of a book that Dobzhansky thought of as the fourth edition of the
small, continuous, individual variations (which the biometri- earlier one, but had changed too much for publication under
cians assumed passed from one generation to the next without the same title.
being subject to Mendel’s laws of inheritance). Dobzhansky sought to extend the evolutionary synthesis to
The controversy between mutationists (also referred to at mankind in numerous articles and several books, most notably
the time as Mendelians) and biometricians approached a Mankind Evolving (15), published in 1962, a book that many
resolution in the 1920s and 1930s through the theoretical work judge to be as important as Genetics and the Origin of Species.
of several geneticists (5). These geneticists used mathematical Dobzhansky was a leading experimentalist and prolific writer,
arguments to show, first, that continuous variation (in such who published several books and nearly 600 papers dealing
characteristics as size, number of eggs laid, and the like) could with leading questions in population and evolutionary genet-
be explained by Mendel’s laws; and second, that natural ics, as well as with philosophical problems and humanistic
selection acting cumulatively on small variations could yield issues. The experimental organisms of most of his research
major evolutionary changes in form and function. Distin- were Drosophila fruitflies.
guished members of this group of theoretical geneticists were
R. A. Fisher and J. B. S. Haldane in Britain and Sewall Wright A Man for All Seasons
in the United States (6–8). Their work contributed to the
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downfall of mutationism and, most importantly, provided a Theodosius Dobzhansky was born on January 25, 1900, in
theoretical framework for the integration of genetics into Nemirov, a small town 200 km southeast of Kiev in the
Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Yet their work had a Ukraine. He was the only child of Sophia Voinarsky and
limited impact on contemporary biologists because it was Grigory Dobrzhansky (precise transliteration of the Russian
formulated in a mathematical language that most biologists family name includes the letter ‘‘r’’), a teacher of high school
could not understand; because it was almost exclusively the- mathematics. In 1910 the family moved to the outskirts of Kiev,
oretical, with little empirical corroboration; and because it was where Dobzhansky lived through the tumultuous years of
limited in scope, largely omitting many issues, such as specia- World War I and the Bolshevik revolution. In those times the
tion, that were of great importance to evolutionists. family was often beset by various privations, including hunger.
Dobzhansky’s Genetics and the Origin of Species advanced a In his unpublished autobiographical Reminiscences for the
reasonably comprehensive account of the evolutionary process ‘‘Oral History Project’’ of Columbia University, Dobzhansky
in genetic terms, laced with experimental evidence supporting states that his decision to become a biologist was made about
the theoretical arguments. It had an enormous impact on 1912. Through his early high school years, Dobzhansky became
naturalists and experimental biologists, who rapidly embraced an avid butterfly collector. A school teacher gave him access
the new understanding of the evolutionary process as one of to a microscope that Dobzhansky used particularly during the
genetic change in populations. Interest in evolutionary studies long winter months. In the winter of 1915–1916 he met Victor
was greatly stimulated, and contributions to the theory soon Luchnik, a 25-year-old college drop-out, who was a dedicated
began to follow, extending the synthesis of genetics and natural entomologist specializing in Coccinellidae beetles. Luchnik
selection to a variety of biological fields. convinced Dobzhansky that butterfly collecting would not lead
The main writers who, together with Dobzhansky, may be anywhere and that he should become a specialist. Dobzhansky
considered the architects of the synthetic theory were the chose to work with ladybird beetles, which would be the subject
zoologists Ernst Mayr (9) and Julian Huxley (10), the paleon- of his first scientific publication in 1918. (Reference to
tologist George G. Simpson (11), and the botanist George Dobzhansky’s publications can be found in the extensive
Ledyard Stebbins (12). [The National Academy of Sciences bibliography published by the National Academy of Sciences,
held in January 1994 a colloquium (13) to commemorate the ref. 16.)
50th anniversary of the publication of Simpson’s seminal book, Dobzhansky graduated in biology from the University of
Tempo and Mode in Evolution (11).] These researchers con- Kiev in 1921. Before his graduation, he was hired as an
tributed to a burst of evolutionary studies in the traditional instructor in zoology at the Polytechnic Institute in Kiev. He
biological disciplines and in some emerging ones—notably taught there until 1924, when he became an assistant to Yuri
population genetics and, later, evolutionary ecology. By 1950 Filipchenko, head of the new department of genetics at the
acceptance of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selec- University of Leningrad. Filipchenko was familiar with
tion was universal among biologists, and the synthetic theory Thomas Hunt Morgan’s work in the United States and had
had become widely adopted. started a Drosophila laboratory, where Dobzhansky was en-
The line of thought of Genetics and the Origin of Species is couraged to investigate the pleiotropic effects of genes.
surprisingly modern—in part, no doubt, because it established In 1927, Dobzhansky obtained a fellowship from the Inter-
the pattern that successive evolutionary investigations and national Education Board (Rockefeller Foundation) and ar-
treatises largely would follow. Dobzhansky writes in the pref- rived in New York on December 27 to work with Thomas Hunt
ace: ‘‘The problem of evolution may be approached in two Morgan at Columbia University. In the summer of 1928 he
 Colloquium Paper: Ayala and Fitch Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94 (1997) 7693

followed Morgan to the California Institute of Technology, Dobzhansky’s obvious personality traits were magnanimity
where Dobzhansky was appointed assistant professor of ge- and expansiveness. He recognized and generously praised the
netics in 1929, and professor of genetics in 1936. In 1940 he achievements of other scientists; he admired the intellect of his
returned to New York as professor of zoology at Columbia colleagues, even when admiration was alloyed with disagree-
University, where he remained until 1962, when he became ment. He made many long-lasting friendships, usually started
professor at the Rockefeller Institute (renamed Rockefeller by professional interaction. Many of Dobzhansky’s friends
University in 1965) also in New York City. On July 1, 1970, were scientists younger than himself, who either had worked in
Dobzhansky became professor emeritus at Rockefeller Uni- his laboratory as students, postdoctorals, or visitors, or had met
versity; in September 1971, he moved to the Department of him during his travels. He was conspicuously affectionate and
Genetics at the University of California, Davis, where he was loyal toward his friends; he expected affection and loyalty in
adjunct professor until his death in 1975. return. Dobzhansky’s exuberant personality was manifest not
On August 8, 1924, Dobzhansky married Natalia (Natasha) only in his friendships but also in his antipathies, which he was
Sivertzev, a geneticist in her own right, who was at the time seldom able, or willing, to hide.
working with the famous Russian biologist I. I. Schmalhausen Dobzhansky was a religious man, although he apparently
in Kiev. Natasha was Dobzhansky’s faithful companion and rejected fundamental beliefs of traditional religion, such as the
occasional scientific collaborator until her death from coro- existence of a personal God and of life beyond physical death.
nary thrombosis on February 22, 1969. The Dobzhanskys had His religiosity was grounded on the conviction that there is
only one child, Sophie, married until her recent death to meaning in the universe. He saw that meaning in the fact that
Michael D. Coe, professor of anthropology at Yale University. evolution has produced the stupendous diversity of the living
In a routine medical check-up on June 1, 1968, it was world and has progressed from primitive forms of life to
discovered that Dobzhansky suffered from chronic lymphatic mankind. Dobzhansky held that, in man, biological evolution
leukemia, the least malignant form of leukemia. He was given has transcended itself into the realm of self-awareness and
a prognosis of ‘‘a few months to a few years’’ of life expectancy. culture. He believed that somehow mankind would eventually
Over the following 7 years, the progress of the leukemia was evolve into higher levels of harmony and creativity. He was a
unexpectedly slow and, surprising to his physicians, it had little metaphysical optimist.
if any noticeable effect on his energy and work habits. How- Dobzhansky’s prodigious scientific productivity was made
ever, the disease took a conspicuous turn for the worse in the possible by incredible energy and very disciplined work habits.
summer of 1975. In mid-November Dobzhansky started to His enormous success as the creator of new ideas and as a
receive chemotherapy, but continued living at home and synthesizer was, at least in part, based on his broad knowledge,
working at the laboratory. He was convinced that the end of phenomenal memory, and an incisive mind able to see the
his life was near and dreaded that he might become unable to relevance that a new discovery or a new theory might have with
work and to care for himself. This never came to pass. He died respect to other theories or problems. His success as an
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experimentalist depended on a wise blending of field and

of heart failure on the morning of December 18, 1975. The
laboratory research; whenever possible he combined both in
previous day, he had been working in the laboratory.
the study of a problem, often using laboratory studies to
Dobzhansky was an excellent teacher and distinguished
ascertain or to confirm the causal processes involved in the
educator of scientists. Throughout his academic career he had
phenomena discovered in nature. He obtained the collabora-
more than 30 graduate students and an even greater number
tion of mathematicians to design theoretical models for ex-
of postdoctoral and visiting associates, many of them from
perimental testing and to analyze statistically his empirical
foreign countries. Some of the most distinguished geneticists observations. He was no inventor or gadgeteer, but he had an
and evolutionists in the United States and abroad are his uncanny ability to exploit the possibilities of any suitable
former students. Dobzhansky spent long periods of time in experimental apparatus or experimental method.
foreign academic institutions, and was largely responsible for Dobzhansky received many honors and awards. He was
the establishment or development of genetics and evolutionary president of several professional organizations, including the
biology in various countries, notably Brazil, Chile, and Egypt. Genetics Society of America (1941), the American Society of
Dobzhansky gave generously of his time to other scientists, Naturalists (1950), the Society for the Study of Evolution
particularly to young ones and to students. But he resented (1951), the American Society of Zoologists (1963), the Amer-
time spent in committee activities, which he shunned as often ican Teilhard de Chardin Association (1969), and the Behavior
as he reasonably could. Throughout his academic career, he Genetics Association (1973). He was a member of the National
avoided administrative posts, alleging, perhaps correctly, that Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and
he had neither temperament nor ability for management. Most Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and of many
certainly, he preferred to dedicate his working time to research foreign academies, such as the Royal Society of London. He
and writing rather than to administration. received more than 20 honorary degrees from universities in
Dobzhansky was a world traveler and an accomplished the United States and abroad. He received the Daniel Giraud
linguist able to speak fluently six languages and to read several Elliot Medal (1946) and the Kimber Genetics Award (1958)
more. He was a good naturalist and never lacked time for a from the National Academy of Sciences and numerous other
hike in the California Sierras, the New England forests, or the medals, including the National Medal of Science, which he
Amazon jungles. He loved horseback riding but practiced no received in January 1964 from President Lyndon Baines
other sports. Dobzhansky’s interests included the visual arts, Johnson (16, 17).
music, history, Russian literature, cultural anthropology, phi- The 16 papers that follow were presented at a colloquium
losophy, religion, and, of course, science. His artistic prefer- sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences to celebrate
ences were unsystematic and definitely traditional. His favorite the 60th anniversary of the publication of Dobzhansky’s Ge-
composer was Beethoven followed by Bach and other ba- netics and the Origin of Species. These papers are organized into
roques; he loved Italian operas, but had little appreciation for four successive sections: Genetic Variation and Its Origins,
most twentieth century music and a definite distaste for Adaptation and Natural Selection, Population Differentiation
atonalism. (Of electronic and computer-composed music, he and Speciation, and Patterns of Evolution.
said that it is fit only for computers to listen to it.) In art,
Dobzhansky admired the Italian Renaissance painters as well Genetic Variation and Its Origins
as the Dutch and Spanish masters of the seventeenth century;
he appreciated the French Impressionists but detested cubism In 1937, when Dobzhansky published Genetics and the Origin
and all subsequent styles and schools of modern art. of Species (1), the DNA structure was not yet discovered, nor
 7694 Colloquium Paper: Ayala and Fitch Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94 (1997)

were there any grounds to anticipate the tremendous impact gene sequence phylogenies may manifest which isolates are
that molecular biology would have on evolutionary research. most likely to cause future epidemics and might therefore be
We now know how genes are organized and function, and we used for vaccine production.
can ask primeval questions such as what the original organisms Dobzhansky’s interest in human genetic diversity was mo-
were like or how ur-genes were organized. Walter Gilbert tivated by science but also by his enduring concern with the
advanced in 1987 ‘‘the exon theory of genes’’ (18; see also 19) human predicament. He saw that the pervasiveness of genetic
contending that introns have been around since the progenote, diversity was the foundation of human individuality but pro-
the earliest genetic organism, as spacers between the early, vided no grounds for any sort of discrimination. Equality—as
simple genes, and were thereafter used to assemble the in equality in law and equality of opportunity—‘‘pertains to the
complex genes that would later evolve as coalitions of the rights and the sacredness of life of every human being’’ (ref. 23,
primitive ones. This hypothesis has been challenged with the p. 4). In Mankind Evolving (15, p. 18) he wrote that ‘‘Human
alternative proposal that introns came about late in evolution evolution has two components, the biological or organic, and
and had nothing to do with the arrangement and rearrange- the cultural or superorganic. These components are neither
ment of gene pieces. mutually exclusive nor independent, but interrelated and in-
Walter Gilbert, S. J. de Souza, and M. Long in ‘‘Origin of terdependent. Human evolution cannot be understood as a
Genes’’ (20) review the two theories, as well as an intermediate purely biological process, nor can it be adequately described as
position proposing that introns arose at the beginning of a history of culture. It is the interaction of biology and culture.
multicellularity and played a major role during the Cambrian There exists a feedback between biological and cultural pro-
explosion in creating new genes by exon shuffling. The authors cesses.’’
argue that if exon shuffling originated with the progenote, For more than three decades, L. L. Cavalli-Sforza has sought
exons should consist of an integer number of codons and to elucidate the geographic origins and dispersal patterns of
should be correlated with compact regions of polypeptides. human populations by investigating gene frequency distribu-
The evidence that they now present, they say, strongly supports tions. Genetic information has accumulated exponentially,
the case. encompassing protein-encoding genes, nuclear and mitochon-
The ultimate source of genetic variation was thought to be, drial, as well as microsatellite and other DNA sequences.
at the time of the publication of Genetics and the Origin of ‘‘Genes, Peoples, and Languages’’ (24) emphasizes the African
Species, gene mutation. Dobzhansky was soon to realize that origin of modern humans, whence the other continents were
chromosomal mutations could also play important roles in the colonized starting '100,000 years ago, first West Asia, then
evolution sweepstakes. The significance of the transposable
East Asia and Oceania, both probably through the coastal
elements, first discovered by Barbara McClintock in the 1940s,
route of South Asia, and later Europe and America, both from
would become apparent only several decades later. Transpos-
East Asia and the latter certainly from the north, via the Bering
able elements, say Margaret G. Kidwell and Damon Lisch (21),
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land passage created in the ice ages. Cavalli-Sforza sees that

are ubiquitous in many kinds of organisms and account for
the genetic conclusions are confirmed by trees of linguistic
10–15% of the Drosophila’s genome and more than 50% of
families, although these are temporally shallow.
maize’s. Transposable elements provide, indeed, genetic vari-
ation on a scale and variety that could hardly have been
Adaptation and Natural Selection
imagined even a few years ago.
Kidwell and Lisch point out the manifold effects of trans-
Starting in the late 1960s gel electrophoresis of soluble en-
posable elements. In the genotype, they are involved in many
zymes uncovered stores of genetic variation, much greater than
gene mutations, are ubiquitous, and incessantly shift their
had been suspected, in all sorts of animal and plant popula-
numbers and locations. Transposable elements modify phe-
notypes as well, subtly in some cases, causing drastic alterna- tions, as well as bacteria and other microorganisms. Whether
tions of development and organization in others. From an this variation is adaptively important or just neutral noise
evolutionary perspective, transposable elements may be seen became a matter of debate. The 1980s ushered in populational
as parasites of genomes, but like with other parasites, organ- DNA sequencing. Much additional variation was discovered in
isms have often become coadapted with them and have even the form of nucleotide differences between haplotypes. We
learned to subvert them for their own benefit. now know that any two haplotypes of any gene differ on the
The word ‘‘virus’’ does not appear in the index of any of the average by several nucleotide substitutions, although most do
three editions of Genetics and the Origin of Species. By 1970, not yield amino acid differences in the encoded protein. The
when Genetics of the Evolutionary Process (14) was published, neutral-selection controversy rages on.
viruses had become a favored organism of molecular genetics, Richard R. Hudson and collaborators (25) investigate the
and the term ‘‘viruses’’ is represented by six entries in the Sod gene (coding for the Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase) in
index, mostly referring to bacteriophages, but there is also a Drosophila melanogaster, where an unusual polymorphism
discussion of the myxomatosis virus, introduced in 1950 in prevails. At the protein level two alleles, Fast and Slow, are
Australia to control a rabbit population explosion. Two de- discerned, with Slow absent in some populations but reaching
cades later, the accumulation of virus gene sequences com- frequencies '5–15% in many others. It turns out that all Slow
bined with the development of new phylogenetic methodolo- alleles have identical DNA sequences (with trivial exceptions)
gies has brought viruses into the mainstream of molecular even when they originate from different world continents. The
evolution. Important insights that have been gained concern Fast alleles fall into two categories: roughly half of them are
evolutionary processes but also epidemiology, public health, identical, whether they come from Europe, Asia, or the
and geographic patterns of human migrations. Americas; the other half are heterogeneous, most of them
Walter M. Fitch and colleagues (22) investigate the HA1 distinguished from each other by several nucleotide differ-
domain of the hemagglutinin gene from human influenza A ences. Adding to the puzzle is that the Fast alleles that are
viruses isolated throughout the world from 1984 to 1996. The identical to each other are also identical to the Slow alleles
gene is evolving at a rate of 5.7 3 1023 substitutions per site except for the one nucleotide substitution that accounts for
per year, about one million times faster than cellular genes. In their different amino acid composition. Hudson and collabo-
several positions of hemagglutinin a majority of the nucleotide rators conclude that within the last few thousand years a
substitutions are nonsynonymous—i.e., result in amino acid previously rare allele has rapidly risen in frequency to the
replacements—which strongly supports positive Darwinian present levels. The process was driven by fairly strong natural
selection rather than neutral evolution. The authors aver that selection.
 Colloquium Paper: Ayala and Fitch Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94 (1997) 7695

Polymorphisms shared between species were investigated as ‘‘that stage in the evolutionary process at which the once
long and hard by Dobzhansky, mostly chromosomal rearrange- actually or potentially interbreeding array of forms becomes
ments present in two closely related species, Drosophila segregated in two or more separate arrays which are physio-
pseudoobscura and Drosophila persimilis. DNA sequencing has logically incapable of interbreeding’’ (37; also ref. 1, p. 312).
uncovered numerous trans-specific polymorphisms, notably in Dobzhansky saw that the species is not only a category of
the genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) of classification, but in sexual organisms also a natural unit
mammals, where some shared alleles have persisted for mil- defined by the ability to interbreed or its absence. He called
lions of years. In plants of the family Solanaceae, alleles that attention to the determining role played by reproduction
are self-incompatible in fertilization have persisted across ‘‘isolating mechanisms,’’ a term that he created.
species barriers for 70 million years. Drosophila species also The biological species concept has recently been challenged
share DNA sequence polymorphisms that are several million on the grounds that it unduly neglects phylogeny. John C.
years old. Avise and Kurt Wollenberg (38) examine this criticism by
Andrew G. Clark (26) develops mathematical models seek- bringing to bear recent gene coalescence theory with an
ing to elucidate the causes of trans-specific shared polymor- analysis of multiple, gender-defined pathways in genealogical
phisms. The shared self-incompatibility polymorphisms of pedigrees. They conclude that the supposed sharp distinction
plants and MHC alleles of humans and other primates are between the biological species concept and the phylogenetic
maintained by strong natural selection, because the protein constructs favored by the critics is illusory. ‘‘Historical descent
products accrue a fitness advantage to the bearer of those and reproductive ties,’’ they write, ‘‘are related aspects of
alleles if they are different. The Drosophila polymorphisms, phylogeny, and jointly illuminate biotic discontinuity.’’
however, are recent enough that they might have persisted by Among the reproductive isolating mechanisms identified by
neutral drift. Dobzhansky (1) there was one, later called ‘‘gametic isolation,’’
Three decades ago, Zuckerkandl and Pauling (27) conjec- occurring when the ‘‘spermatozoa fail to reach the eggs, or to
tured that morphological evolution is largely caused by changes penetrate into the eggs; in higher plants, the pollen tube
in the expression of genes, rather than in the amino acid growth may be arrested if foreign pollen is placed on the stigma
sequence of the encoded polypeptides. Natalia A. Tamarina, of the flower.’’ Therese Markow (39) notes that the investi-
Michael Z. Ludwig, and Rollin C. Richmond (28) explore the gation of gametic isolation as an evolutionary mechanism has
issue in two homologous genes in two species, D. melanogaster been unduly neglected. In the genus Drosophila alone, a huge
(Est-6) and D. pseudoobscura (Est-5B). The coding regions of diversification exists in the size and pattern of gametes and
these two genes share 80% of their nucleotide and amino acid other internal reproductive traits affecting fertilization. For
sequences. The regions flanking the genes are, in contrast, so fertilization to occur, ‘‘sperm must successfully enter the
different that it is difficult to align their sequences to ascertain female and be transported to the storage organs. . . [and] must
homology. stay alive with adequate motility until they are utilized by the
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Tamarina and colleagues (28) make recourse to the magi- female.’’ Markow examines how these steps fail in different
cian’s bag of tricks available to Drosophila geneticists. They cases and draws a richly patterned quilt that one can see will
pick up regulatory DNA segments from D. pseudoobscura and likely be much extended as other organisms are investigated.
introduce them in the appropriate locations of D. melanogaster. The evolutionary possibilities by which these variegations may
The expression of the gene in the D. melanogaster transgenic come about are virtually infinite.
flies becomes substantially altered. The expression of the two Coniferous forests and oak woodlands along the North
genes in normal flies follows similar patterns, yet the gene- American Pacific Coast are inhabited by Ensatina terrestrial
regulating apparatus has become different in the two species. salamanders. Several species were thought to occur in Cali-
It was not until the 1970s that demography was integrated fornia, but detailed morphological and coloration analysis led
into the theory of the dynamics of natural selection. Population to the conclusion in 1949 that various forms were parts of only
genetics theory had until then treated all individuals in a one polytypic species arranged in the form of a ring around the
population as effectively equivalent, without corroboration of Central Valley of California (40). Dobzhansky (41) saw that
longevity, age-dependent fecundity, and other life history virtually all stages in a speciation process could be identified
parameters. The beginnings of an integration of the theories of along the ring, with complete reproductive isolation between
population ecology and population genetics appeared in the the terminal populations meeting in the southern part of the
1970s, although this integration never engaged much attention valley. In Dobzhansky’s view speciation was thwarted by
from theorists or experimentalists, perhaps because of the ongoing gene flow via the intermediate populations around
many complexities involved. Dobzhansky and some of his the ring.
students and collaborators made important experimental con- Wake and colleagues demonstrated in the late 1980s (42–44)
tributions to the problems (see refs. 29–35). that gene flow could not hold the complex together: an analysis
Wyatt W. Anderson and Takao K. Watanabe (36) analyze of protein variation in 19 populations along the ring disclosed
life history schedules of births and deaths to investigate the great genetic differentiation among populations. David B.
outcome of laboratory population experiments involving sev- Wake (45) reviews mitochondrial DNA and other variation.
eral chromosomal arrangements of D. pseudoobscura in vari- The Ensatina population array is old, consisting of a number
ous combinations. Coincidentally, it happens that all possible of geographically and genetically distinct components that
genetic outcomes occur: stable polymorphic equilibrium, un- have reached or approximate full species level. The evolution-
stable polymorphic equilibrium, and fixation for one of the ary history elucidated is extremely complex, with repeated
alternatives. The authors conclude that, in these populations, interludes of geographic separation and genetic interactions
both viability and fertility are important fitness components. upon renewed contact.
Age-dependent female fecundity plays a particularly signifi- Peter R. Grant and Rosemary Grant (46) see that Dobzhan-
cant role in the outcome. sky’s Genetics and the Origin of Species is an appropriate
starting point for investigating the speciation process and the
Population Differentiation and Speciation underlying genetic changes. But in one respect, they note,
Dobzhansky’s book is disappointing because it says nothing
The concept of species is fundamental in evolutionary theory. about the genetics of birds, which are their consuming research
The modern understanding of this concept can be traced to interest. Birds are made to serve a good purpose for illustrating
1935 when Dobzhansky introduced what is now known as the geographical patterns of morphological variation within spe-
‘‘biological species concept’’ (37). Dobzhansky defined species cies, adaptation to newly colonized habitats, rapid radiation in
 7696 Colloquium Paper: Ayala and Fitch Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94 (1997)

archipelagos, and interspecies competition. The evolution of in Drosophila genes and they often persist through long periods
reproductive isolation is considered, but ‘‘the genetics of of evolution.
speciation are the genetics of other organisms, mainly Dro- Powell and Moriyama (48) exclude differential mutation
sophila.’’ rates as the cause of the codon bias. Rather, they conclude that
Peter and Rosemary Grant note differences between spe- natural selection is the cause. The determining factor is the
ciation in birds and speciation in Drosophila. It is significant relative abundance of the tRNAs that execute the translation
that in birds the behavioral barriers that prevent mating evolve of genes into proteins: genes that are expressed at high rates
first, whereas post-mating isolation typically evolves much favor codons that match those tRNAs that are more abundant.
later, perhaps after gene exchange has all but ceased. Pre- The genes in the nucleus of plants often occur as ‘‘fami-
mating isolation in birds may arise from nongenetic causes, lies’’—i.e., a gene encoding a particular polypeptide may exist
often from factors such as song, which in many groups of birds in several copies of more or less remote evolutionary origin.
is culturally inherited through an imprinting-like process. Of Michael Clegg, Michael P. Cummings, and Mary L. Durbin
the factors involved in pre-mating isolation, such as plumage, investigate ‘‘The Evolution of Plant Nuclear Genes’’ (49) by
morphology, and behavior, some are under single-gene con- focusing on three gene families, rbcS, Chs, and Adh. Additional
trol, but most are polygenetically determined. copies are recruited at different rates in these families: new Chs
and rbcS genes are recruited 20 times faster than Adh genes.
Patterns of Evolution The multiplication of gene copies and their divergence is
particularly notable for Chs genes in the evolution of flowering
The universal tree of life consists of three domains, or ‘‘em- plants.
pires,’’ bacteria, archaea, and eukarya. The three multicellular The evolution of Adh in monocot plants is not consistent
kingdoms, animals, plants, and fungi, are just 3 of the 10–12 with the molecular clock hypothesis even for synonymous
extant major branches of the eukaryote domain. Molecular nucleotide substitutions. Clegg and colleagues conclude that
evolutionary investigations in the last decade have elucidated natural selection plays a significant role in driving the evolu-
the large genetic diversity encompassed by the set of all tionary divergence of duplicated genes. They add that new
eukaryotes and, hence, the reduced proportion represented by alleles often arise by intragene recombination (49).
the multicellular kingdoms. The existence and great genetic Multigene families occur in animals as well as in plants.
heterogeneity of the archaea have been discovered by molec- Notable in humans and other mammals are genes associated
ular evolutionists also in the last few years, and so have been with the immune system, such as the MHC genes and immu-
most of the species and higher taxonomic groups. The recon- noglobulin (Ig) genes. Some multigene families, in animals as
struction of the universal tree and the assessment of the genetic in plants, arise by concerted evolution, a process that generates
diversity of each branch are buttressed by the hypothesis of the new genes by interlocus recombination or gene conversion.
molecular clock of evolution, which has multifarious other Masatoshi Nei, Xun Gu and Tatyana Sitnikova (50) raise the
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applications in other evolutionary studies. How good is the question whether concerted evolution may account for the
molecular clock? MHC and Ig families, as some authors have suggested. They
It has been known for some time that the time variance of note that member genes of these families are often more
molecular evolutionary events is larger than would be expected similar to homologous genes from different species than they
if the molecular clock were a stochastic clock, like the radio- are to other member genes within the same species. This would
active decay of isotopes. Francisco Ayala in ‘‘Vagaries of the not be expected if concerted evolution were the main origi-
Molecular Clock’’ (47) reviews two clocks, the genes Gpdh and nating process of gene multiplication within a family. Phylo-
Sod, investigated in his laboratory. Gpdh evolves in Drosophila genetic analyses of several MHC and Ig multigene families
very slowly, at a rate of 1.1 3 10210 amino acid replacements display patterns inconsistent with the concerted evolution
per site per year. But the rate is much faster, '4.5 3 10210 in hypothesis. The evidence favors the conclusion that the cre-
mammals, between Dipteran families, between animal phyla, ation of new genes by gene duplication has repeatedly occurred
or between plants, animals, and fungi. On the other hand, Sod in the evolutionary history of organisms. Some duplicated
evolves very fast in Drosophila, '16 3 10210, which is also the genes persist in the diversified descendant species for a long
rate in mammals and between Dipteran families; but the rate time; others effectively disappear, either because they are
becomes much slower, 5.3 3 10210, between animal phyla, and deleted or have become nonfunctional by deleterious muta-
still slower, 3.3 3 10210, between plants, animals, and fungi. If tions.
one were to assume that Gpdh and Sod are good clocks and
project the Drosophila rate to estimate the time of divergence We are grateful to the National Academy of Sciences for the
of the three multicellular kingdoms, Gpdh would yield an generous grant that financed the colloquium and to Kenneth Fulton
estimate of 3,990 million years, Sod an estimate of 224 million and Edward Patte, and the staff of the Arnold and Mabel Beckman
years, both very much off the commonly accepted divergence Center for their skill and generous assistance during the colloquium
time of '1,100 million years. It is unlikely that many molecular and its preparation. Special gratitude is owed to Denise Chilcote, who
was responsible for the colloquium’s logistics at all stages, and for her
clocks are as erratic as Gpdh or Sod, but molecular clocks
gracious and dedicated performance. Most of all, we are grateful to the
should be applied with caution, particularly when remote speakers and their co-authors for their wonderful contribution to the
extrapolations are made. colloquium and in the papers that follow. We have borrowed exten-
The hypothesis of the molecular clock was originally pred- sively from ref. 16 in the preparation of Dobzhansky’s biographical
icated on the assumption that the evolutionary replacement of statement.
one amino acid for another, or one nucleotide for another is
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