Related to the field of viral symbiosis, we must refer to the pioneering work of the
French-Canadian biologist Félix d’Hérelle (1873–1949) associated with the Institut
Pasteur in Paris, who published in 1917 the article “Sur un microbe invisible
antagoniste des bacilles dysentériques” (On an invisible microbe antagonistic to
dysentery bacilli) describing the phenomenon of the bacteriophage and its biological
nature. He developed this hypothesis, based on previous experimental studies carried
out by him, of the existence of viruses associated with bacteria, which he calls
bacteriophages, seeing this biological phenomenon in a symbiotic perspective
(d’Hérelle 1917; Sapp 1994; Summers 1999).
In Russia, Boris Kozo-Polyansky (1890–1957) published in 1924 the book A new
principle of biology: an essay on the theory of symbiogenesis, where symbiosis has a
determinant role in evolution, building the bridge between symbiogenesis and the
Darwinian theory and introducing the idea of the organism as a consortium (KozoPolyansky 2010). This idea of organism as a consortium was initially presented in
1873 by the German botanist Johannes Reinke (1849–1931), to refer to the relationship between the fungus and alga in lichens (Carrapiço 2015a; Reinke 1873).
In 1927, Hermann Joseph Muller (1890–1967), an American geneticist working
at University of Texas, publishes in the journal Science an important article entitled
“Artificial transmutation of the gene,” showing that X-rays could dramatically
increase the frequency of gene mutations in Drosophila melanogaster (Carrapiço
2015a; Muller 1927). In this paper, the author refers that “Most modern geneticists
will agree that gene mutations form the chief basis of organic evolution, and
therefore of most of the complexities of living things” (Muller 1927). In 1946, he
was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the
production of mutations by means of X-ray irradiation. More important, he provided
the foundational “tool” for neo-Darwinists to explain biological evolution and the
complexity of life (Carrapiço 2015a). However, the same year, Ivan Emanuel Wallin
(1883–1969), a Professor at the University of Colorado published Symbionticism
and the origin of species, where the author defends the importance of symbiotic
mechanisms in evolution, with emphasis on the symbiotic origin of mitochondria.
Wallin also emphasized the importance of microsymbiosis in this process, pointing
out “that bacteria, which are popularly associated with disease, may represent the
fundamental causative factor in the origin of species” (Carrapiço 2015a; Wallin
1927). He considers symbioticism as a mechanism of speciation, suggesting that the
primary source of genetic novelty for speciation was the periodic repeated fusion of
bacterial endosymbionts with host cells, reinforcing the importance of these symbionts as leading actors in the biological evolutive process (Carrapiço 2015a, b; Wallin
1927) (Fig. 27.3).
All the ideas discussed above were represented in the innovative work of the
American biologist Lynn Margulis (born Lynn Petra Alexander, 1938–2011)
published in 1967 with the title “On the origin of mitosing cells” (Carrapiço
2015a; Sagan 1967). In this article, Margulis presented the theory on the origin of
eukaryotic cells, explaining the transition between the prokaryotic and the eukaryotic levels of biological organization. It considers that several cellular eukaryotic
organelles, such as mitochondria and chloroplasts, have derived from free-living
600
F. Carrapiço
French-Canadian biologist Félix d’Hérelle (1873–1949) associated with the Institut
Pasteur in Paris, who published in 1917 the article “Sur un microbe invisible
antagoniste des bacilles dysentériques” (On an invisible microbe antagonistic to
dysentery bacilli) describing the phenomenon of the bacteriophage and its biological
nature. He developed this hypothesis, based on previous experimental studies carried
out by him, of the existence of viruses associated with bacteria, which he calls
bacteriophages, seeing this biological phenomenon in a symbiotic perspective
(d’Hérelle 1917; Sapp 1994; Summers 1999).
In Russia, Boris Kozo-Polyansky (1890–1957) published in 1924 the book A new
principle of biology: an essay on the theory of symbiogenesis, where symbiosis has a
determinant role in evolution, building the bridge between symbiogenesis and the
Darwinian theory and introducing the idea of the organism as a consortium (KozoPolyansky 2010). This idea of organism as a consortium was initially presented in
1873 by the German botanist Johannes Reinke (1849–1931), to refer to the relationship between the fungus and alga in lichens (Carrapiço 2015a; Reinke 1873).
In 1927, Hermann Joseph Muller (1890–1967), an American geneticist working
at University of Texas, publishes in the journal Science an important article entitled
“Artificial transmutation of the gene,” showing that X-rays could dramatically
increase the frequency of gene mutations in Drosophila melanogaster (Carrapiço
2015a; Muller 1927). In this paper, the author refers that “Most modern geneticists
will agree that gene mutations form the chief basis of organic evolution, and
therefore of most of the complexities of living things” (Muller 1927). In 1946, he
was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the
production of mutations by means of X-ray irradiation. More important, he provided
the foundational “tool” for neo-Darwinists to explain biological evolution and the
complexity of life (Carrapiço 2015a). However, the same year, Ivan Emanuel Wallin
(1883–1969), a Professor at the University of Colorado published Symbionticism
and the origin of species, where the author defends the importance of symbiotic
mechanisms in evolution, with emphasis on the symbiotic origin of mitochondria.
Wallin also emphasized the importance of microsymbiosis in this process, pointing
out “that bacteria, which are popularly associated with disease, may represent the
fundamental causative factor in the origin of species” (Carrapiço 2015a; Wallin
1927). He considers symbioticism as a mechanism of speciation, suggesting that the
primary source of genetic novelty for speciation was the periodic repeated fusion of
bacterial endosymbionts with host cells, reinforcing the importance of these symbionts as leading actors in the biological evolutive process (Carrapiço 2015a, b; Wallin
1927) (Fig. 27.3).
All the ideas discussed above were represented in the innovative work of the
American biologist Lynn Margulis (born Lynn Petra Alexander, 1938–2011)
published in 1967 with the title “On the origin of mitosing cells” (Carrapiço
2015a; Sagan 1967). In this article, Margulis presented the theory on the origin of
eukaryotic cells, explaining the transition between the prokaryotic and the eukaryotic levels of biological organization. It considers that several cellular eukaryotic
organelles, such as mitochondria and chloroplasts, have derived from free-living
600
F. Carrapiço