Fig. 1.

Cascade of regulation: At each step, information content is not only reduced but might also increase due to integration of information provided by the surrounding. Global environmental factors (e.g., gravity, latitude, temperature, tide etc.) as well as local environmental factors including localization, timing and interaction of products provide information to all steps of the cascade and establish a network of communication. The influence of certain factors can be expected to show great variation among organisms. Localization is suggested to play an important role for many steps. The more environmental factors can be taken for granted, the less information needs to be encoded and transmitted from step to step