Article
Biology
Michael Tomasello
Summary: Great apes can discern and direct others' attention in flexible ways, but they seemingly lack the ability to recursively coordinate attention and action with others, as well as regulate collaboration via intentional communication, in the same way as young human children.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Annette Damert
Summary: This study reveals the role of segmental duplications (SDs) and Alu short interspersed elements (SINEs) in primate genomes. It shows that a core duplicon called lcr16a contributes to the propagation of interspersed SDs in primates, with SVA retrotransposon being an integral component of lcr16a in Asian and African great apes. The findings also suggest that SVA recombination-mediated integration of a circular intermediate is the founding event of a lineage-specific lcr16a expansion in hominines.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kai R. Caspar, Marco Biggemann, Thomas Geissmann, Sabine Begall
Summary: Comparative analysis of ocular pigmentation patterns in 15 species of hominoids reveals a continuum of eye pigmentation traits that do not align with the complexity of gaze-mediated communication, with gibbons displaying darker eyes than great apes and exposing less sclera. Contrary to recent discussions, chimpanzee eyes exhibit a coloration scheme resembling gibbons rather than other apes.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Juraj Bergman, Mikkel Heide Schierup
Summary: This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the evolutionary dynamics of the pseudoautosomal region 1 (PAR1) in both extant and extinct hominids. PAR1 is found to evolve rapidly and is primarily influenced by recombination processes. The mutation patterns in PAR1 also differ among species, with an excess of C-to-G mutations associated with male recombination. Despite evidence of Y chromosome introgression from humans to Neanderthals, the PAR1 region in Neanderthals remains similar to the Denisovan sequence. Repeat content and double-strand break hotspot regions in PAR1 may play crucial roles in ensuring proper recombination between the X and Y chromosomes during male meiosis.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Xiaowen Feng, Heng Li
Summary: The study introduced a more sensitive and accurate method to identify processed pseudogenes, pinpointing 40 processed pseudogenes not present in the human reference genome GRCh38 from 22 human individuals. Additionally, an overview of lineage-specific retrocopies in chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan genomes was provided.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Juraj Bergman, Mikkel Heide Schierup
Summary: The composition of genomes is influenced by different rates of mutations with transitions occurring more frequently than transversions, particularly at CpG sites. Recombination-associated GC-biased gene conversion affects GC-changing mutations differently across human populations and great ape species, with a stronger impact on transitions, especially CpG transitions. The overall strength of gBGC is correlated with effective population sizes in humans, but there are exceptions such as in European populations. Study also suggests that species of the Gorilla and Pongo genus have reduced gBGC effect on CpG sites.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Luis Rios, Meg M. Sleeper, Marietta D. Danforth, Hayley Weston Murphy, Ilana Kutinsky, Antonio Rosas, Markus Bastir, Jose Gomez-Cambronero, Ricardo Sanjurjo, Laurence Campens, Oliver Rider, Francisco Pastor
Summary: Humans have a larger energy budget than great apes, which is related to cardiac output. The study shows that humans have an increased body mass adjusted aortic root diameter compared to gorillas and chimpanzees. Cardiac output and total energy expenditure in humans follow similar trajectories over the lifespan, with a significant increase during brain growth and a plateau in adulthood. The presence of aortic impression in the vertebral bodies of humans and Neanderthals supports the hypothesis that an increased adjusted cardiac output played a crucial role in human evolution.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Dwight W. Read, Hector M. Manrique, Michael J. Walker
Summary: In this article, we review publications on the comparison between chimpanzees' working memory and that of humans. The study finds that while chimpanzees' working memory shares similarities with humans, it is comparatively lower, around one-third the size. Additionally, chimpanzees' working memory performance is comparable to that of children around 4 or 5 years old. These findings are not only important for understanding the cognitive abilities of chimpanzees but also contribute to the analysis of the evolution of Homo sapiens and the complexity of stone tool technology.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Shuhei Nozaki, Motoharu Oishi, Naomichi Ogihara
Summary: The study found that the apical angles in gorillas and orangutans were significantly greater than those in humans and chimpanzees, indicating that there is no direct correlation between the apical angle and arboreality in hominoids. Geometric morphometrics revealed interspecific differences in trochlear morphology, but did not show a clear association between trochlear characteristics and locomotor behavior. This suggests that trochlear morphology may not be solely determined by locomotor behavior, but also influenced by other factors like phylogeny and body size.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jonathan Rawski, William Idsardi, Jeffrey Heinz
Summary: Although Watson et al.'s study suggests nonhuman animals may be able to learn syntactic dependencies, their results also align with the learning of phonological dependencies in human languages.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Raphaela Heesen, Adrian Bangerter, Klaus Zuberbuhler, Katia Iglesias, Christof Neumann, Aude Pajot, Laura Perrenoud, Jean-Pascal Guery, Federico Rossano, Emilie Genty
Summary: Research shows that chimpanzees and bonobos exhibit entry and exit phases similar to humans in joint activities, demonstrating a process of joint commitment. Bonobos' phases are more influenced by friendship, reflecting patterns akin to human face management more than chimpanzees do. This suggests that the process of joint commitment was already present in our common ancestor with Pan.
Article
Anthropology
Michael Tomasello
Summary: Humans are more cooperative than their closest primate relatives and possess various social motivations and emotions, providing compelling evidence for the importance of cooperative activities in the human species.
HUMAN NATURE-AN INTERDISCIPLINARY BIOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hanna Marno, Christoph J. Volter, Brandon Tinklenberg, Dan Sperber, Josep Call
Summary: When human infants are addressed intentionally, they interpret the information as relevant and valuable. Similarly, great apes are sensitive to communicative cues, but in this study, they failed to prioritize efficiency when the ineffective method was demonstrated in a communicative way. This suggests that the communicative demonstration elicited an expectation of relevance and modified apes' interpretation of the situation.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Biology
Loic Pougnault, Florence Levrero, Mael Leroux, Julien Paulet, Pablo Bombani, Fabrice Dentressangle, Laure Deruti, Baptiste Mulot, Alban Lemasson
Summary: Two hypotheses related to the evolution of animal vocal communication have gained ground in the last decade: one suggesting that complexity of communication co-evolved with social complexity, and another proposing that primitive conversational rules exist in primates. Comparative studies on great apes such as chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orang-utans reveal that vocal interaction patterns are influenced by societal factors, with species showing different patterns based on social structure, diversity of social bonds, and interaction types. This suggests that studying vocal turn-taking in non-human great apes could provide insights into the socially driven evolution of communication.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Biology
Cathal O'Madagain, Katharina A. Helming, Marco F. H. Schmidt, Eli Shupe, Josep Call, Michael Tomasello
Summary: Research has shown that great apes and 5-year-old children have the ability to keep track of the reasons for their decisions, while 3-year-old children do not. Additionally, apes are only sensitive to conflicting physical evidence, whereas 3-year-old children are more sensitive to peer disagreement.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Evelyn Jagoda, James R. Xue, Steven K. Reilly, Michael Dannemann, Fernando Racimo, Emilia Huerta-Sanchez, Sriram Sankararaman, Janet Kelso, Luca Pagani, Pardis C. Sabeti, Terence D. Capellini
Summary: This study utilized a Massively Parallel Reporter Assay (MPRA) to evaluate high-frequency introgressed variants from Neanderthals, identifying some variants that can modulate gene expression and are associated with immune function. The findings suggest that these variants may alter the binding motifs of important immune transcription factors, are linked to neutrophil and white blood cell count, and are associated with gene expression in innate immune pathways.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Diana Le Duc, Akhil Velluva, Molly Cassatt-Johnstone, Remi-Andre Olsen, Sina Baleka, Chen-Ching Lin, Johannes R. Lemke, John R. Southon, Alexander Burdin, Ming-Shan Wang, Sonja Grunewald, Wilfried Rosendahl, Ulrich Joger, Sereina Rutschmann, Thomas B. Hildebrandt, Guido Fritsch, James A. Estes, Janet Kelso, Love Dalen, Michael Hofreiter, Beth Shapiro, Torsten Schoeneberg
Summary: Steller's sea cow, an extinct mammal, had genetic adaptations to cold aquatic environments and showed convergent evolution with cetaceans. Environmental changes also played a role in their extinction.
Article
Ecology
Samantha Brown, Diyendo Massilani, Maxim B. Kozlikin, Michael V. Shunkov, Anatoly P. Derevianko, Alexander Stoessel, Blair Jope-Street, Matthias Meyer, Janet Kelso, Svante Paeaebo, Thomas Higham, Katerina Douka
Summary: Through collagen peptide mass fingerprinting analysis of thousands of non-diagnostic bone fragments, five new hominin bones were discovered in Denisova Cave, Siberia, Russia, with three identified as Denisovan and one as Neanderthal based on mitochondrial DNA analysis. These bones, dating back to 200 ka, provide valuable insights into the material culture, behavior, and environmental adaptations of these early hominins, and have significantly expanded our understanding of Denisovan and Neanderthal interactions and archaeological signatures.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Virology
Stephen Balinandi, Juliette Hayer, Harindranath Cholleti, Michelle Wille, Julius J. Lutwama, Maja Malmberg, Lawrence Mugisha
Summary: The risk of novel zoonotic diseases emerging in animals and humans in Uganda is high due to its geographical location and high biodiversity. A study identified and characterized 8 viral species from cattle blood samples, including highly divergent ones. This suggests that cattle may be reservoir hosts for novel viruses with the potential to cause zoonotic diseases, posing serious public health implications.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Rogers Wambi, William Worodria, James Muleme, Siya Aggrey, Lawrence Mugisha
Summary: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of leptospirosis among renal patients and general outpatients attending Mulago National Referral Hospital in Uganda. The overall prevalence of leptospirosis was found to be 4.70%, with common symptoms including abdominal pain and dehydration among the participants.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Abigail E. Asangba, Lawrence Mugisha, Joshua Rukundo, Rebecca J. Lewis, Ali Halajian, Liliana Cortes-Ortiz, Randall E. Junge, Mitchell T. Irwin, Johan Karlson, Andrew Perkin, Mrinalini Watsa, Gideon Erkenswick, Karen L. Bales, Dorothy L. Patton, Anna J. Jasinska, Eduardo Fernandez-Duque, Steven R. Leigh, Rebecca M. Stumpf
Summary: The microbiome plays a crucial role in host health and disease, but there is still much unknown about its diversity and evolution. This study compared microbiome community compositions from different body sites across 17 nonhuman primate species, finding distinct differences in the oral microbiome compared to other body sites. Furthermore, host species differences were found to shape the microbiome within specific body sites.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Alastair M. Kilpatrick, Farzana Rahman, Audra Anjum, Sayane Shome, K. M. Salim Andalib, Shrabonti Banik, Sanjana F. Chowdhury, Peter Coombe, Yesid Cuesta Astroz, J. Maxwell Douglas, Pradeep Eranti, Aleyna D. Kiran, Sachendra Kumar, Hyeri Lim, Valentina Lorenzi, Tiago Lubiana, Sakib Mahmud, Rafael Puche, Agnieszka Rybarczyk, Syed Muktadir Al Sium, David Twesigomwe, Tomasz Zok, Christine A. Orengo, Iddo Friedberg, Janet F. Kelso, Lonnie Welch
Summary: This article discusses the importance of computational biology on Wikipedia and the need for improvement, as well as the involvement of ISCB Communities of Special Interest (COSIs) to enhance the quality of computational biology representation on Wikipedia.
Article
Biology
Stephane Peyregne, Janet Kelso, Benjamin M. Peter, Svante Paeaebo
Summary: After the split from Neandertals and Denisovans, modern humans experienced an unusual number of amino acid substitutions in proteins associated with the spindle apparatus. Some of these substitutions may have been positively selected. The KNL1 gene, previously believed to be specific to modern humans, was also found in some Neandertals, suggesting gene flow between these groups.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Laurits Skov, Stephane Peyregne, Divyaratan Popli, Leonardo N. M. Iasi, Thibaut Deviese, Viviane Slon, Elena Zavala, Mateja Hajdinjak, Arev P. Suemer, Steffi Grote, Alba Bossoms Mesa, David Lopez Herraez, Birgit Nickel, Sarah Nagel, Julia Richter, Elena Essel, Marie Gansauge, Anna Schmidt, Petra Korlevic, Daniel Comeskey, Anatoly P. Derevianko, Aliona Kharevich, Sergey Markin, Sahra Talamo, Katerina Douka, Maciej T. Krajcarz, Richard G. Roberts, Thomas Higham, Bence Viola, Andrey Krivoshapkin, Kseniya A. Kolobova, Janet Kelso, Matthias Meyer, Svante Paeaebo, Benjamin M. Peter
Summary: Genetic analysis of Neanderthals from two caves in southern Siberia reveals insights into the social organization of Neanderthal communities. The study found evidence of close relatives living together, indicating that at least some individuals lived at the same time. The presence of long segments of homozygosity in a significant portion of the individuals' genomes suggests a small community. Furthermore, the lower Y-chromosome diversity compared to mitochondrial diversity suggests female migration between communities. This study provides detailed documentation of the social organization of an isolated Neanderthal community at the easternmost extent of their known range.
Article
Veterinary Sciences
Bert J. Mohr, Ouajdi Souilem, Abdussamad M. Abdussamad, Abelouafi Benmouloud, Phillippe Bugnon, John K. Chipangura, Sohair R. Fahmy, Tamsyn Fourie, Khadiga Gaafar, Ngalla E. Jillani, Josiah T. Kantyok, Louise F. Martin, Mokganedi Mokopasetso, Lawrence Mugisha, Atunga Nyachieo, David Lewis
Summary: Despite limited access to education and training in laboratory animal science (LAS) and ethics in Africa, the establishment of PAN-LASE has successfully provided opportunities and strengthened knowledge hubs across the continent. Challenges and opportunities for PAN-LASE include formalization of the network, sustainability of education programs, and availability of Africa-centric educational resources.
LABORATORY ANIMALS
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Melodie Sammarro, Barry Rowlingson, Derek Cocker, Kondwani Chidziwisano, Shevin T. Jacob, Henry Kajumbula, Lawrence Mugisha, David Musoke, Rebecca Lester, Tracy Morse, Nicholas Feasey, Chris Jewell
Summary: Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) factors play a crucial role in the transmission of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli, while antimicrobial exposure is the key driver for ESBL-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae.
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Florence Mutua, Gideon Kiarie, Miriam Mbatha, Joshua Onono, Sofia Boqvist, Emily Kilonzi, Lawrence Mugisha, Arshnee Moodley, Susanna Sternberg-Lewerin
Summary: The use of antibiotics is common among poultry farmers, constituting 43% of the drugs used. Antibiotics are administered to chickens through water, and leftover drugs are either stored or incinerated. Farmers often buy drugs without prescriptions and rarely comply with withdrawal periods.
Article
Infectious Diseases
Derek Cocker, Kondwani Chidziwisano, Madalitso Mphasa, Taonga Mwapasa, Joseph M. Lewis, Barry Rowlingson, Melodie Sammarro, Winnie Bakali, Chifundo Salifu, Allan Zuza, Mary Charles, Tamandani Mandula, Victor Maiden, Stevie Amos, Shevin Jacob, Henry Kajumbula, Lawrence Mugisha, David Musoke, Rachel Byrne, Thomas Edwards, Rebecca Lester, Nicola Elviss, Adam P. Roberts, Andrew C. Singer, Christopher Jewell, Tracy Morse, Nicholas Feasey
Summary: The prevalence of ESBL-producing Enterobacterales is extremely high in humans, animals, and the environment in southern Malawi. Urbanization and seasonality are significant risk factors for colonization, and without proper environmental improvements, transmission of ESBL-producing bacteria is likely to persist in this setting.
Article
Veterinary Sciences
Bert Mohr, Ouajdi Souilem, Sohai Fahmy, Francis Fakoya, Khadiga Gaafar, Josia Kantiyok, Farida Khammar, Sarrah Mbarek, Lawrence Mugisha, Hany Sleem, Alemayehu Toma, Maricel van Rooyen, Henry Zakumumpa, David Lewis
Summary: To strengthen the ethical and regulatory oversight in Africa, the Pan-African Network for Laboratory Animal Science and Ethics gathered experts from 12 African countries to create a practical guide for the establishment and functioning of Institutional Animal Ethics Committees. The guidelines are based on universal principles, considering the cultural, religious, political, and socio-economic diversity in Africa, and focus on responsibilities, composition, ethical processes, and quality assurance. The adoption and adaptation of these guidelines will enhance research quality, improve animal well-being, and contribute to sustainable socio-economic development in Africa.
LABORATORY ANIMALS
(2023)
Meeting Abstract
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Benjamin Vernot, Elena I. Zavala, Asier Gomez-Olivencia, Zenobia Jacobs, Viviane Slon, Fabrizio Mafessoni, Frederic Romagne, Alice Pearson, Martin Petr, Nohemi Sala, Adrian Pablos, Arantza Aranburu, Jose Maria Bermudez de Castro, Eudald Carbonell, Bo Li, Maciej T. Krajcarz, Andrey I. Krivoshapkin, Kseniya A. Kolobova, Maxim B. Kozlikin, Michael V. Shunkov, Anatoly P. Derevianko, Bence Viola, Steffi Grote, Elena Essel, David Lopez Herraez, Sarah Nagel, Birgit Nickel, Julia Richter, Anna Schmidt, Benjamin Peter, Janet Kelso, Richard G. Roberts, Juan-Luis Arsuaga, Matthias Meyer
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN GENETICS
(2022)