Symposium E6 “Fundamental questions in evolutionary systems biology: from genes and gene networks to populations and ecosystems”

The symposium is desicated to fundamental questions in evolutionary biology, spanning levels of organization from genes and gene networks to populations and ecosystems. It addresses both theoretical issues in modeling and practical applications for analyzing real-world data in evolutionary biology, population genetics, and ecology.

Track 1. “Molecular Evolution, Phylogeny, and Phylogenomics.” Topics include:

• construction of phylogenetic trees, estimation of species divergence times and refinement of taxonomy, and identification of evolutionary relationships among taxa;
• issues of neutral and adaptive evolution of isofunctional families of genetic macromolecules;
• evolutionary dynamics of gene networks: module conservation, emergence of new regulatory interactions, adaptive rewiring of network architecture in phylogeny and ontogeny, identification of phylostratigraphic gene ages and indices of selective pressure (selection);
• evolution of cellular regulatory genetic systems; genetic mechanisms underlying the encoding and evolution of biological complexity;
• evolutionary scenarios of ecological niche transformation and coordinated evolution of taxa within biological communities.

Track 2. “Computational Analysis and Modeling of the Evolution of Biological Systems and Processes.” Topics include:

• modeling the evolutionary dynamics of molecular-genetic systems and processes;
• modeling the evolutionary dynamics of populations and communities;
• analysis of the stability of biological communities considering anthropogenic impacts and environmental change;
• spatiotemporal dynamics of ecosystems;
• population genetics and evolutionary processes.