Editorial: New trends in cardiovascular development, evolution and disease

The heart, an ancient organ and the first to form and function during embryogenesis, evolved by the addition of new structures and functions to a primitive pump. Heart development is controlled by an evolutionarily conserved network of transcription factors that connect signaling pathways with genes for muscle growth, patterning, and contractility. During evolution, this ancestral gene network was expanded through gene duplication and co-option of additional networks. Mutations in components of the cardiac gene network cause congenital heart disease, the most common human birth defect. The consequences of such mutations reveal the logic of organogenesis and the evolutionary origins of morphological complexity.

Convergence is the tendency of independent species to evolve similarly when subjected to the same environmental conditions. The primitive blueprint for the circulatory system emerged around 700–600 Mya and exhibits diverse physiological adaptations across the radiations of vertebrates (Subphylum Vertebrata, Phylum Chordata). It has evolved from the early chordate circulatory system with a single layered tube in the tunicate (Subphylum Urchordata) or an amphioxus (Subphylum Cephalochordata), to a vertebrate circulatory system with a two‐chambered heart made up of one atrium and one ventricle in gnathostome fish (Infraphylum Gnathostomata), to a system with a three‐chambered heart made up of two atria which maybe partially divided or completely separated in amphibian tetrapods (Class Amphibia). Subsequent tetrapods, including crocodiles and alligators (Order Crocodylia, Subclass Crocodylomorpha, Class Reptilia), birds (Subclass Aves, Class Reptilia) and mammals (Class Mammalia) evolved a four‐chambered heart. The structure and function of the circulatory system of each individual holds a vital role which benefits each species specifically. The special characteristics of the four‐chamber mammalian heart are highlighted by the peculiar structure of the myocardial muscle.