Arbuckle Kevin
Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK.
Toxicon X. 2020 Apr 18;6:100034. doi: 10.1016/j.toxcx.2020.100034. eCollection 2020 Jun.
Biological systems are inherently hierarchical. Consequently, any field which aims to understand an aspect of biology holistically requires investigations at each level of the hierarchy of life, and venom research is no exception. This article aims to illustrate the structure of the field in light of a 'levels of life' perspective. In doing so, I highlight how traditional fields and approaches fit into this structure as focussing on describing levels or investigating links between levels, and emphasise where implicit assumptions are made due to lack of direct information. Taking a 'levels of life' perspective to venom research enables us to understand the complementarity of different research programmes and identify avenues for future research. Moreover, it provides a broader view that, in itself, shows how new questions can be addressed. For instance, understanding how adaptations develop and function from molecular to organismal scales, and what the consequences are of those adaptations at scales from molecular to macroevolutionary, is a general question relevant to a great deal of biology. As a trait which is molecular in nature and has clearer and more direct links between genotype and phenotype than many other traits, venom provides a relatively simple system to address such questions. Furthermore, because venom is also diverse at each level of life, the complexity within the hierarchical structure provides variation that enables powerful analytical approaches to answering questions. As a result, venom provides an excellent model system for understanding big questions in evolutionary biology.
生物系统本质上是分层的。因此，任何旨在全面理解生物学某一方面的领域都需要在生命层次结构的每个层面进行研究，毒液研究也不例外。本文旨在从“生命层次”的角度阐释该领域的结构。在此过程中，我将强调传统领域和方法如何作为专注于描述层次或研究层次之间联系的内容融入这一结构，并指出由于缺乏直接信息而做出的隐含假设所在之处。从“生命层次”的角度研究毒液，能让我们理解不同研究项目的互补性，并确定未来的研究方向。此外，它提供了一个更广阔的视角，本身就展示了如何解决新问题。例如，理解适应性如何从分子尺度到生物体尺度发展和发挥作用，以及这些适应性在从分子到宏观进化的尺度上会产生什么后果，是一个与许多生物学领域相关的普遍问题。毒液作为一种本质上是分子层面的特征，并且在基因型和表型之间比许多其他特征有着更清晰、更直接的联系，为解决此类问题提供了一个相对简单的系统。此外，由于毒液在生命的每个层次上也具有多样性，层次结构中的复杂性提供了变化，使得能够采用强大的分析方法来回答问题。因此，毒液为理解进化生物学中的重大问题提供了一个绝佳的模型系统。
