Symbiogenesis

More than eighty years ago, before we knew much about the structure of cells, Russian botanist Boris Kozo-Polyansky brilliantly outlined the concept of symbiogenesis, the symbiotic origin of cells with nuclei. It was a half-century later, only when experimental approaches that Kozo-Polyansky lacked were applied to his hypotheses, that scientists began to accept his view that symbiogenesis could be united with Darwin's concept of natural selection to explain the evolution of life. After decades of neglect, ridicule, and intellectual abuse, Kozo-Polyansky's ideas are now endorsed by virtually all biologists. Kozo-Polyansky's seminal work is presented here for the first time in an outstanding annotated translation, updated with commentaries, references, and modern micrographs of symbiotic phenomena.

ISBN 0674050452   DEWEY edition DC22 ISBN13 9780674050457 (What's this?)   Pages 240 Publisher Harvard University Press   Weight (grammes) 503 Imprint Harvard University Press   Published in Cambridge, Mass Format Hardback   Height (mm) 235 Publication date 18 Jun 2010   Width (mm) 155 Translator Victor Fet   Spine width (mm) 22 Writer of introduction Peter H. Raven   Academic level Postgraduate DEWEY 576.85

		The Importance of B.M. Kozo-Polyansky's Work for Modern Science by Liya N. Khakhina
		Introduction by Peter H. Raven
		Note to the Reader by Lynn Margulis
		Kozo-Polyansky's Life by Victor Fet
		Acknowledgments
		Original Russian book title page
		Modern status of Kozo-Polyansky's view of the net of life: Symbiogenesis refined by Darwin-Wallace
		Preface		1
I		Noncellular Organisms (Cytodes) and Bioblasts [Prokaryotes]		3
1		Bacterial Bioblasts		3
2		Cyanophyceae, or Blue-Green Algal Bioblasts		6
3		Symbiosis among Cytodes		9
4		Symbiosis of Cytodes with Unicellular Organisms [Protoctists]		14
5		Symbiosis of Cytodes with Multicellular Organisms [Animals, Plants, Fungi]		16
6		Cytodes [Prokaryotes] as Ancestors		17
II		The Cell and Its Organelles		19
1		Chlorophyll Organelles and Other Plastids		19
a		Chlorophyll Organelles in Animals [and Protoctists]		20
b		Chlorophyll Organelles in Plants [and Protoctists]		25
2		Centrosomes		31
3		Nuclei		32
4		Mitochondria		39
5		Ergastoplasm [Endoplasmic Reticulum]		44
6		Golgi Apparatus		44
7		Nerve Fibrils of Nemec		46
8		Physodes [of Brown Algae]		46
		More...

Aiming to acquaint readers with the history of symbiogenesis theory, this excellent book accomplishes more than a mere presentation of a translated work originally written in the 1920s. Margulis and Fet have brought forth a gem of evolutionary thinking, essentially lost because it was published in Russian, which shows how the development of modern symbiogenesis theory (particularly that of Margulis) was anticipated (and would have been greatly aided) by the late botanist Kozo-Polyansky's work. It is a commendable piece of scholarship to present a publication that, in many ways, "scoops" the authors' own contributions to the field, if only in retrospect. Fet and Margulis, however, not only revive the book, they bring it fully into the sweep of modern theory by clearly and succinctly translating the original terms into their modern equivalents and correcting for the reader the statements by Kozo-Polyansky that have not held up over the intervening 85-plus years. Their insertions into the text are clearly marked and succinct, and do not detract from the original. Indeed, the book is as much a summary of the way science self-corrects and refines itself as it is a presentation of Kozo-Polyansky's work.--S. J. Oliver"Choice" (10/01/2011)

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