Review
Genetics & Heredity
Giorgio Bertorelle, Francesca Raffini, Mirte Bosse, Chiara Bortoluzzi, Alessio Iannucci, Emiliano Trucchi, Hernan E. Morales, Cock van Oosterhout
Summary: Genetic variation, generated by mutation, recombination, and gene flow, can reduce the average fitness of a population. This genetic load can be estimated using various approaches, such as genome sequencing and computational techniques. Splitting the genetic load into realized load and masked load can improve our understanding of deleterious mutations in population genetics.
NATURE REVIEWS GENETICS
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Alvaro Lopez-Valinas, Marta Valle, Marta Perez, Ayub Darji, Chiara Chiapponi, Llilianne Ganges, Joaquim Segales, Jose I. Nunez
Summary: Influenza A viruses (IAVs) are constantly evolving, posing a threat to animal and human health. Vaccines can help reduce the spread of swine influenza viruses (SIAV) in farms, but they do not provide complete protection and may potentially favor viral evolution. A study on vaccinated and nonvaccinated pigs challenged with H1N2 SIAV showed that vaccinated animals had a higher proportion of virus mutations, indicating the potential for vaccine-driven evolution.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Kamil S. Jaron, Jens Bast, Reuben W. Nowell, T. Rhyker Ranallo-Benavidez, Marc Robinson-Rechavi, Tanja Schwander
Summary: Systematic characterization of genomic features in 26 parthenogenetic animals revealed no consistent patterns across transitions to asexuality, indicating lineage-specific rather than general consequences of parthenogenesis. Only parthenogens of hybrid origin showed high heterozygosity levels, while non-hybrid parthenogens appeared largely homozygous, regardless of the cellular mechanism underlying parthenogenesis.
JOURNAL OF HEREDITY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
A. L. Sperling, D. M. Glover
Summary: We discovered mosaic aneuploidy in the larval brains of facultatively parthenogenetic Drosophila, with increased levels in parthenogenetic offspring compared to sexually reproduced offspring. Additionally, there was intra-individual variation in germline-derived aneuploidy within the same strain. Our findings challenge the assumption that parthenogenetic offspring are genetic replicas of their mothers, indicating that the loss of mitotic control resulting in parthenogenesis causes subsequent genome variation.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Orsolya Liska, Gabor Borossb, Charles Rocabert, Balazs Szappanosa, Roland Tengolics, Balazs Papp
Summary: This study introduces a measure of conservation of individual metabolite levels among related species and reveals the association between conservation and functional properties of metabolites. It shows that metabolite abundance, essentiality, and association with human diseases predict conservation, suggesting a parallel between metabolome and protein sequence conservation. Additionally, the study demonstrates that biomarkers of metabolic diseases can be distinguished based on evolutionary conservation alone, without prior clinical knowledge.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Xiaoxu Zhang, Dongyan Xiong, Junping Yu, Hang Yang, Ping He, Hongping Wei
Summary: Phage therapy for antibiotic-resistant bacteria has gained attention, but bacteria can quickly develop resistance after exposure to lytic phages. A study on Staphylococcus aureus and its lytic phage revealed genetic polymorphism in minor alleles as a new mechanism for co-evolution, enabling rapid responses to selective pressures between phage and host.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jack Howe, Jochen C. Rink, Bo Wang, Ashleigh S. Griffin
Summary: Metazoans can function both as individual organisms and as colonies of cells. Understanding the behavior of cells and why they cooperate relies on insights from evolutionary biology about the formation of multicellular groups. Current explanations for multicellularity highlight the roles of a single-cell bottleneck and the separation of somatic and germ cell lineages in promoting cooperation and reducing conflict among cells. However, many multicellular organisms do not possess these characteristics, leading to potential conflict within the organism. This necessitates a reassessment of the concept of conflict-free multicellularity. To achieve this, evolutionary theory and developmental biology must integrate across a wide range of organisms and incorporate unusual reproductive strategies, totipotency, and cell competition. A conceptual overview from evolutionary biology, using examples from social insects, can aid developmental biologists in this interdisciplinary approach.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Biology
Chang S. Chan, Yvonne Sun, Hua Ke, Yuhan Zhao, Merzu Belete, Cen Zhang, Zhaohui Feng, Arnold J. Levine, Wenwei Hu
Summary: The p53 gene is frequently mutated in human cancers, with Li-Fraumeni syndrome patients inheriting heterozygous p53 mutations having an increased risk of early age cancer development. Studies suggest that other factors beyond just p53 mutations play a role in cancer onset. Mouse studies demonstrate that the genetic background of mice carrying Tp53 mutations affects tumor formation, tissue type, and onset age, contributing to the diversity of cancers in Li-Fraumeni patients.
LIFE SCIENCE ALLIANCE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Leonardo Velazco-Cruz, Joseph A. A. Ross
Summary: Identifying alleles that reduce hybrid fitness is essential in studying speciation genetics. The study of developmental delay in the nematode Caenorhabditis briggsae provides insights into the genetic basis of hybrid incompatibility and the underlying mechanisms.
Editorial Material
Biology
Frans B. M. de Waal
Summary: Comparative behavioural economics examines decision-making regarding goods and services in humans and other species, assuming shared evolutionary backgrounds of cognition and emotions. This article introduces the field by reviewing early studies and concepts, providing insight into economic behaviors across different species.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Frederic B. Bastian, Julien Roux, Anne Niknejad, Aurelie Comte, Sara S. Fonseca Costa, Tarcisio Mendes de Farias, Sebastien Moretti, Gilles Parmentier, Valentine Rech de Laval, Marta Rosikiewicz, Julien Wollbrett, Amina Echchiki, Angelique Escoriza, Walid H. Gharib, Mar Gonzales-Porta, Yohan Jarosz, Balazs Laurenczy, Philippe Moret, Emilie Person, Patrick Roelli, Komal Sanjeev, Mathieu Seppey, Marc Robinson-Rechavi
Summary: Bgee is a database that allows retrieval and comparison of gene expression patterns in multiple animal species using curated healthy wild-type data, enabling the detection of expression conditions for any single gene across different species. It integrates various data types and ensures consistent data annotation and processing for cross-species comparisons.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2021)
Review
Microbiology
Mark P. Stevens, Robert A. Kingsley
Summary: Salmonella is a globally important animal and zoonotic pathogen that can cause asymptomatic infections, acute gastroenteritis, or invasive diseases. Genomic signatures can be used to predict its invasive potential, host adaptation, and zoonotic risk.
CURRENT OPINION IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Dolma Michellod, Tanja Bien, Daniel Birgel, Marlene Violette, Manuel Kleiner, Sarah Fearn, Caroline Zeidler, Harald R. Gruber-Vodicka, Nicole Dubilier, Manuel Liebeke
Summary: Using various techniques, such as metabolite imaging and enzyme assays, we have discovered that gutless marine annelids synthesize the plant sterol sitosterol, which is commonly found in plants. This synthesis is facilitated by a noncanonical C-24 sterol methyltransferase, an enzyme that is essential for sitosterol synthesis in plants but not widely known in most animals. Our phylogenetic analyses also indicate that this enzyme is present in representatives of at least five animal phyla, suggesting that the synthesis of plant-like sterols is more common in animals than previously believed.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Lianhe Zhao, Jiajia Wang, Yanyan Li, Tingrui Song, Yang Wu, Shuangsang Fang, Dechao Bu, Hui Li, Liang Sun, Dong Pei, Yu Zheng, Jianqin Huang, Mingqing Xu, Runsheng Chen, Yi Zhao, Shunmin He
Summary: NONCODE is a comprehensive database focusing on the collection and annotation of noncoding RNAs, especially long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in animals. The latest version, NONCODEV6, not only covers lncRNAs in plants and animals, but also provides updated human lncRNA-disease relationships, tissue expression profiles and predicted function of lncRNAs in common plants, as well as conservation annotation of lncRNAs at transcript level for 23 plant species.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Biology
Jory Thiel, Muzaffar A. Khan, Roel M. Wouters, Richard J. Harris, Nicholas R. Casewell, Bryan G. Fry, R. Manjunatha Kini, Stephen P. Mackessy, Freek J. Vonk, Wolfgang Wuster, Michael K. Richardson
Summary: Convergence is the phenomenon where similar phenotypes evolve independently in different lineages. Resistance to toxins in animals is an example of convergence, where molecular adaptations have evolved to counteract the harmful effects of toxins. However, resistance adaptations may carry fitness costs if they disrupt the normal physiology of the resistant animal.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2022)
