Dept of Ecology, Theoretical Ecology, University of Lund, Ecology Building, S-223 62 Lund, Sweden.
Trends Ecol Evol. 1989 Jul;4(7):209-13. doi: 10.1016/0169-5347(89)90075-X.
Modular organisms, such as colonial marine invertebrates and most seed plants, develop by a repetition of physically interrelated subunits colloquially called modules. Modules may include some or all features of single organisms. Modular organisms have no separate germ line; instead, several cell lineages can remain totipotent throughout the life span of the organism or the clone. Due to this somatic embryogenesis, the basic reproductive units are found at the level of the module. The products of modular repetition, i.e. physically coherent organisms, colonies and clones consisting of modules, mainly function as interactive units that modify survival and reproduction at the level of the module. Together these levels of interaction and reproduction make up a hierarchical causal system, which we frequently tend to encapsulate into a single functional unit of selection.
模块化生物，如海洋无脊椎动物的群体和大多数种子植物，通过物理上相互关联的亚单位的重复发育，这些亚单位通常被称为模块。模块可以包括单个生物体的部分或全部特征。模块化生物没有独立的生殖系；相反，几个细胞谱系可以在整个生物体或克隆的生命周期中保持全能性。由于这种体细胞胚胎发生，基本的繁殖单位存在于模块的水平。模块重复的产物，即物理上连贯的生物体、由模块组成的群体和克隆，主要作为交互单元发挥作用，在模块水平上改变生存和繁殖。这些相互作用和繁殖的层次共同构成了一个层次因果系统，我们经常倾向于将其封装到一个单一的选择功能单元中。
