Boreskov

COULD CHRONIC STRESS INDUCED BY POLYCYCLIC AROMATICHYDROCARBONS HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR HOMINID EVOLUTION?Oshchepkov D.Yu., Suslov V.V.Institute of Cytology and Genetics SB RAS, Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, RussiaComparisons of the entire genomes of primates, including man and chimpanzee,demonstrated that the genetic pattern of adaptive evolution in man is the same as that inother primates, so they form homological series 1 . The genes evolving are largely thosecontrolling interactions with the environment (signal reception and transduction genes,immunity genes, reproduction genes and genes controlling trophic and energy processes),while the genes controlling the cell cycle, cytoarchitectonics and ontogenesis are lessinvolved. Importantly, most of these genes are expressed in many tissues, including thebrain (except reproduction genes) [1, 3], while brain‐specific genes are surprisingly rare(ASPM, microcephalin, FOXP2 [1]) and whether they undergo adaptive evolution is still anopen issue [3] 2 .Genetically, man is close to chimpanzee; however, behaviorally, it is also close to themost eurytopic primates in the Old and New World. Species like these do not depend muchon their econiche: highly stress‐resistant, they can travel in the ecocoenotic space and havetheir survival strategies changed as required. The first to indicate the involvement of stressin hominid evolution was Belyaev, who pointed out an association between domesticationstress‐driven selection in fox (domestication is tolerance towards man, self‐domestication istolerance towards neighboring conspecifics) and a change in some psycophysiologicalcharacteristics, including complex exploratory behavior [4]. We propose that the vector ofevolution that optimizes stress response (prolongation of the cross‐resistance phase,dampening down distress in the anxiety and exhaustion phases) is beneficial for eurytopicspecies, no matter what stress inducers operate (their list can be extended far beyonddomestication stress and its derivatives). Hominization is associated with the Great RiftValley (GRV) 3 [2], where some of exotic stressors could be such xenobiotics as polycyclic1 This is consistent with data from comparative primatology [2]: behavioral and physiological elements typical of manapparently emerged in parallel in different Old and New World species.2 The growth in the share of non‐synonymous substitutions in them is easier explained by an attenuation of stabilizingselection [1].3 In the hominid lineages that either have never been to GRV or once abandoned it, encephalization rates used to beslowing [2].114