Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Cecilia Kardum Hjort, Josephine R. Paris, Henrik G. Smith, Rachael Y. Dudaniec
Summary: Invasive bumblebees, such as Bombus terrestris in Tasmania, can rapidly adapt and thrive in non-native environments. This study found high gene flow but low genetic diversity in the invasive population, with restricted migration in certain regions related to elevation, land use, wind speed, and precipitation seasonality. Selection signatures were also identified for genes related to precipitation, wind speed, and wing loading. These findings provide insights into the evolutionary processes and potential global spread of invasive pollinators.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Matthew Barnbrook, Mario Duran-Castillo, Jo Critchley, Yvette Wilson, Alex Twyford, Andrew Hudson
Summary: The study of speciation cases involving parallel adaptations can reveal adaptive characters and their underlying genes. By studying the parallel evolution of alpine morphology in the genus Antirrhinum, it was found that two later diverged sympatric species only differ by around 2% of nuclear loci, but still maintain morphological characters typical of earlier-diverged alpine or lowland lineages and correlate with local landscape features, as expected of ecological adaptations. The morphological differences involve multiple, unlinked genes that can be easily broken up by recombination in hybrids. There is little evidence of post-pollination barriers to gene flow or recombination, suggesting that genetic isolation related to ecological adaptation is important in maintaining character combinations and might have contributed to parallel speciation. Genes involved in the earlier alpine-lowland split were also reused in parallel evolution of alpine species, consistent with introgressive hybridization, and it is speculated that many non-ecological barriers to gene flow might have been purged during the process.
Review
Biology
Anja M. Westram, Rui Faria, Kerstin Johannesson, Roger Butlin, Nick Barton
Summary: Local adaptation and parallel evolution are major topics in evolutionary genomics. Genetic structures that reduce recombination, such as chromosomal inversions, play an important role in local adaptation. However, the contribution of inversions to parallel evolution is still not well understood.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Diego Ocampo, Kevin Winker, Matthew J. Miller, Luis Sandoval, J. Albert C. Uy
Summary: This study used a phylogenomic approach to investigate the evolutionary history and genetic structure of the Variable Seedeater superspecies complex. The findings suggest that the early diversification of this complex occurred rapidly despite historical gene flow, and plumage color divergence may influence the extent of gene flow among populations.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Carolin Dahms, Petri Kemppainen, Linda N. Zanella, Davor Zanella, Antonella Carosi, Juha Merila, Paolo Momigliano
Summary: This study focuses on the genetic differentiation and parallel evolution of three-spined stickleback populations from the Adriatic Sea compared to populations from other regions. The findings suggest that Adriatic populations are highly differentiated, of low genetic diversity and likely stem from multiple independent colonizations during the Pleistocene, despite still showing some degree of genetic parallelism.
Article
Plant Sciences
Guillaume Wos, Erwann Arc, Karl Huelber, Veronika Konecna, Adam Knotek, Doubravka Pozarova, Clara Bertel, Dominik Kaplenig, Terezie Mandakova, Gilbert Neuner, Peter Schoenswetter, Ilse Kranner, Filip Kolar
Summary: Parallel local adaptation, when different genetic lineages independently adapt to the same selective environment, was investigated in Arabidopsis arenosa populations from four distinct mountain regions. The study found that the populations exhibited similar adaptive responses to elevation difference, indicating parallel local adaptation. The results highlight the role of divergent selection and provide experimental support for the repeatability of adaptive evolution.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Morgan M. Sparks, Claire E. Schraidt, Xiaoshen Yin, Lisa W. Seeb, Mark R. Christie
Summary: In this study, the effects of genetic drift and rapid genetic adaptation in pink salmon introduced to the Great Lakes were investigated. It was found that despite a decrease in genetic diversity during the introduction process, the introduced salmon populations showed evidence of selection at multiple loci, suggesting a rapid response to the new environment.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Shao-Bing Zong, Yu-Long Li, Jin-Xian Liu
Summary: Adaptive changes in Coilia nasus to freshwater were found to be associated with large chromosome inversions on LG6 and LG22, and genes within these inversions were enriched with metabolic, immunoregulatory functions. The study highlights the role of chromosomal inversions in rapid parallel ecological divergence and provides insights into the genomic basis of adaptation in novel habitats.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Richard C. Law, Glenn Nurwono, Junyoung O. Park
Summary: Glycolysis is a metabolic process that breaks down glucose to produce ATP and biomass precursors. The ED pathway is a glycolytic pathway that yields half as much ATP as textbook glycolysis. In this study, it was found that the ED pathway provides a selective advantage during growth acceleration in E. coli. The fast response time of the ED pathway is attributed to its strong thermodynamic driving force and streamlined glucose import.
NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sheng-Kai Hsu, Chaimae Belmouaden, Viola Nolte, Christian Schloetterer
Summary: The study compared expression profiles of replicated Drosophila melanogaster populations exposed to two different temperature regimes in the laboratory for more than 80 generations. It identified genes and gene modules that evolved in the same direction in both temperature regimes, reflecting adaptation to common selection pressures. Additionally, temperature-specific expression changes were observed, with overlap between adaptive genes in experimental evolution and natural Drosophila populations along different temperature clines.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Carolyn K. Tepolt, Edwin D. Grosholz, Catherine E. de Rivera, Gregory M. Ruiz
Summary: The study found high connectivity and significant genetic structure driven by a few SNPs associated with latitude and winter temperature in the European green crab population spread across environmental gradients. These SNPs are predominantly located in a gene cluster previously identified as a candidate for cold tolerance adaptation, indicating a balanced polymorphism promoting rapid adaptation despite high gene flow. This suggests that populations can adapt successfully through a few large-effect variants despite low overall diversity.
Article
Plant Sciences
Aglaia Szukala, Clara Bertel, Bozo Frajman, Peter Schoenswetter, Ovidiu Paun
Summary: High levels of phenotypic plasticity can be costly in stable or extreme environments, but enhance plasticity can evolve in response to new environments and lead to the development of novel phenotypes. This study examines the transcriptomic profiles of two pairs of ecotypes, one alpine and one montane, to understand the contribution of constitutive and plastic gene expression to altitudinal divergence. The results show that the montane populations have higher plasticity of gene expression and that genes related to response to drought and trichome formation play a role in this plasticity.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Natalie R. Hofmeister, Scott J. Werner, Irby J. Lovette
Summary: Genomic research on North American starlings indicates low geographical differentiation and few significant F-ST outliers at a continental scale, despite their high dispersal rate and rapid expansion history. Despite starting from a relatively small founding population, these birds show only moderate genetic bottleneck and a dramatic increase in effective population size since introduction. Furthermore, single-nucleotide polymorphisms correlated with temperature and/or precipitation suggest rapid local adaptation in North American starlings even in their wide-ranging and evolutionarily young system.
Article
Ecology
Lucia L. Combrink, William C. Rosenthal, Lindsey J. Boyle, Jessica A. Rick, Elizabeth G. Mandeville, Amy C. Krist, Annika W. Walters, Catherine E. Wagner
Summary: Research shows that trout have rapidly adapted their feeding morphology through eco-evolutionary interactions with zooplankton in alpine lakes. Trout predation has influenced the zooplankton species community and caused a decrease in average zooplankton size. The study found shifts in gill raker traits in lakes stocked decades ago, indicating the rapid adaptation of trout to exploit smaller-bodied zooplankton more effectively. The genetic data also suggests that historically stocked trout populations likely derive from multiple sources.
Article
Ecology
Xiaoming Lu, Eryuan Liang, Yafeng Wang, Flurin Babst, J. Julio Camarero
Summary: The study aims to understand how climate change affects altitudinal treeline dynamics in the Northern Hemisphere from 1901 to 2018. The research found that treelines mostly ascended, with faster shifts in subarctic regions driven by precipitation, particularly in autumn. Climate warming and changing precipitation patterns have important implications for treeline dynamics, which should be considered in future assessments of global change impacts on alpine ecosystems.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Biology
Jack G. Rayner, Thomas J. Hitchcock, Nathan W. Bailey
Summary: Recent research suggests that dosage compensation on the X chromosome scales phenotypic effects between the sexes, with incomplete dosage compensation potentially leading to female-biased effects on X-linked alleles.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Nathan W. Bailey, Camille Desjonqueres, Ana Drago, Jack G. Rayner, Samantha L. Sturiale, Xiao Zhang
Summary: The study discusses a conceptual issue regarding the connection between genes controlling new adaptations and genes contributing to trait plasticity. To address this, a testable genetic mechanism called genetic covariance is proposed to predict the role of plasticity in facilitating genetic adaptation. It is suggested that the genetic coupling of plasticity and adaptations could promote rapid evolution of novel adaptations.
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Nathan W. Bailey, Camille Desjonqueres
Summary: This article highlights the mismatch between the theoretical emphasis and empirical usage of the interaction effect coefficient psi in indirect genetic effect (IGE) models. It discusses the conceptualization and empirical measurement issues related to psi, and advocates for a shift in perspective to view psi as a robust predictor of evolutionary change. The article also emphasizes the potential of psi to provide insight into the evolutionary consequences of IGEs through falsifiable predictions.
JOURNAL OF HEREDITY
(2022)
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Harris A. Lewin, Stephen Richards, Erez Lieberman Aiden, Miguel L. Allende, John M. Archibald, Miklos Balint, Katharine B. Barker, Bridget Baumgartner, Katherine Belov, Giorgio Bertorelle, Mark L. Blaxter, Jing Cai, Nicolette D. Caperello, Keith Carlson, Juan Carlos Castilla-Rubio, Shu-Miaw Chaw, Lei Chen, Anna K. Childers, Jonathan A. Coddington, Dalia A. Conde, Montserrat Corominas, Keith A. Crandall, Andrew J. Crawford, Federica DiPalma, Richard Durbin, ThankGod E. Ebenezer, Scott V. Edwards, Olivier Fedrigo, Paul Flicek, Giulio Formenti, Richard A. Gibbs, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Melissa M. Goldstein, Jennifer Marshall Graves, Henry T. Greely, Igor V. Grigoriev, Kevin J. Hackett, Neil Hall, David Haussler, Kristofer M. Helgen, Carolyn J. Hogg, Sachiko Isobe, Kjetill Sigurd Jakobsen, Axel Janke, Erich D. Jarvis, Warren E. Johnson, Steven J. M. Jones, Elinor K. Karlsson, Paul J. Kersey, Jin-Hyoung Kim, W. John Kress, Shigehiro Kuraku, Mara K. N. Lawniczak, James H. Leebens-Mack, Xueyan Li, Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Xin Liu, Jose V. Lopez, Tomas Marques-Bonet, Sophie Mazard, Jonna A. K. Mazet, Camila J. Mazzoni, Eugene W. Myers, Rachel J. O'Neill, Sadye Paez, Hyun Park, Gene E. Robinson, Cristina Roquet, Oliver A. Ryder, Jamal S. M. Sabir, H. Bradley Shaffer, Timothy M. Shank, Jacob S. Sherkow, Pamela S. Soltis, Boping Tang, Leho Tedersoo, Marcela Uliano-Silva, Kun Wang, Xiaofeng Wei, Regina Wetzer, Julia L. Wilson, Xun Xu, Huanming Yang, Anne D. Yoder, Guojie Zhang
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mara K. N. Lawniczak, Richard Durbin, Paul Flicek, Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Xiaofeng Wei, John M. Archibald, William J. Baker, Katherine Belov, Mark L. Blaxter, Tomas Marques Bonet, Anna K. Childers, Jonathan A. Coddington, Keith A. Crandall, Andrew J. Crawford, Robert P. Davey, Federica Di Palma, Qi Fang, Wilfried Haerty, Neil Hall, Katharina J. Hoff, Kerstin Howe, Erich D. Jarvis, Warren E. Johnson, Rebecca N. Johnson, Paul J. Kersey, Xin Liu, Jose Victor Lopez, Eugene W. Myers, Olga Vinnere Pettersson, Adam M. Phillippy, Monica F. Poelchau, Kim D. Pruitt, Arang Rhie, Juan Carlos Castilla-Rubio, Sunil Kumar Sahu, Nicholas A. Salmon, Pamela S. Soltis, David Swarbreck, Francoise Thibaud-Nissen, Sibo Wang, Jill L. Wegrzyn, Guojie Zhang, He Zhang, Harris A. Lewin, Stephen Richards
Summary: The Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) is a global international initiative that requires agreement and coordination on standards. To ensure rapid progress towards its goals, EBP has established five technical standards committees and made the current versions of the standards documents available on its website.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mark Blaxter, John M. Archibald, Anna K. Childers, Jonathan A. Coddington, Keith A. Crandall, Federica Di Palma, Richard Durbin, Scott V. Edwards, Jennifer A. M. Graves, Kevin J. Hackett, Neil Hall, Erich D. Jarvis, Rebecca N. Johnson, Elinor K. Karlsson, W. John Kress, Shigehiro Kuraku, Mara K. N. Lawniczak, Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Jose V. Lopez, Nancy A. Moran, Gene E. Robinson, Oliver A. Ryder, Beth Shapiro, Pamela S. Soltis, Tandy Warnow, Guojie Zhang, Harris A. Lewin
Summary: Life on Earth has evolved from simplicity to complexity, with bacteria and archaea excelling in metabolic diversification and eukaryotes displaying morphological innovation. The Earth BioGenome Project proposes sequencing the genomes of all known eukaryotic species to create a digital library of life, which will help address evolutionary and ecological questions and provide insights into speciation, adaptation, and organismal dependencies within ecosystems.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mark L. Blaxter
Summary: The Earth Biogenome Project aims to sequence the genomes of all eukaryotic life on earth, and the Darwin Tree of Life Project focuses on delivering high-quality genome sequences for the British and Irish islands. The collaboration between biodiversity organizations and genomics institutes has established a workflow that collects specimens, performs sequencing, generates curated assemblies, and openly releases the data for global use in future scientific and conservation efforts.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
ThankGod Echezona Ebenezer, Anne W. T. Muigai, Simplice Nouala, Bouabid Badaoui, Mark Blaxter, Alan G. Buddie, Erich D. Jarvis, Jonas Korlach, Josiah O. Kuja, Harris A. Lewin, Roksana Majewska, Ntanganedzeni Mapholi, Suresh Maslamoney, Michele Mbo'o-Tchouawou, Julian O. Osuji, Ole Seehausen, Oluwaseyi Shorinola, Christian Keambou Tiambo, Nicola Mulder, Cathrine Ziyomo, Appolinaire Djikeng
Article
Plant Sciences
Suo Qiu, James M. Bradley, Peijun Zhang, Roy Chaudhuri, Mark Blaxter, Roger K. Butlin, Julie D. Scholes
Summary: This study reveals diverse strategies used by Striga hermonthica to overcome different layers of host resistance. Understanding the maintenance of variation at virulence loci by balancing selection is crucial for controlling the evolution of parasite virulence.
Article
Ecology
Solomon A. Sloat, Luke M. Noble, Annalise B. Paaby, Max Bernstein, Audrey Chang, Taniya Kaur, John Yuen, Sophia C. Tintori, Jacqueline L. Jackson, Arielle Martel, Jose A. Salome Correa, Lewis Stevens, Karin Kiontke, Mark Blaxter, Matthew V. Rockman
Summary: The distribution and abundance of species are influenced by various factors, including life-history traits, population structure, and colonization-extinction dynamics. Caenorhabditis nematodes species were observed in two well-studied tropical field sites, with the majority of them being globally distributed androdiecious species. These species were able to colonize baits through phoresy and showed preference for baits in direct contact with the ground.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nobuaki Mizumoto, Thomas Bourguignon, Nathan W. Bailey
Summary: Recent studies have found that the prevalence of same-sex sexual behavior is not simply due to mistaken identity, but involves mutual interactions and successful pairing between partners. Behavioral plasticity plays a crucial role in expressing same-sex behavior in such circumstances, as partners are able to modify their behavior to adapt to each other's sex. Through studying termites, it was discovered that stable same-sex pairings are achieved through behavioral plasticity, resulting in behavioral dimorphism. This dimorphism improves reunion success in case of accidental separation. A systematic literature survey and phylogenetic comparative analysis suggest that the ancestors of modern termites lacked consistent sex roles during pairing, indicating that this plasticity is inherited from ancestors. Therefore, socioenvironmental induction of ancestral behavioral potential may be of widespread importance to the expression of same-sex behavior.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Emmelien Vancaester, Mark Blaxter
Summary: The Darwin Tree of Life (DToL) project aims to sequence all described terrestrial and aquatic eukaryotic species found in Britain and Ireland. From data generated by the DToL project, 110 complete Wolbachia genomes from 93 host species spanning 92 families were identified and assembled. Different insect orders had distinct patterns of Wolbachia infection, with Lepidopteran hosts mostly infected with supergroup B, while infections in Diptera and Hymenoptera were dominated by A-type Wolbachia. Host and Wolbachia phylogenies revealed no (or very limited) cophylogeny, indicating frequent host switching events in the evolutionary history of Wolbachia. Mining raw genome data generated for reference genome assemblies is an effective way to analyze cobiont genomes and provide ecological context for their hosts.
Article
Ecology
Camille Desjonqueres, Bretta Speck, Sara Seidita, Lauren A. Cirino, Ignacio Escalante, Clinton Sergi, Jak Maliszewski, Christine Wiese, Gerlinde Hoebel, Nathan W. Bailey, Rafael L. Rodriguez
Summary: This study tested the effect of social environment variation on signal-preference divergence. The results showed that mixed social aggregations can increase species differences in signal preference. This social plasticity may facilitate rapid bursts of diversification.
AMERICAN NATURALIST
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Kai Hu, Aoyuan Cui, Xiao Zhang
Summary: This study examines the intergenerational relationship between parental famine exposure and the obesity risks of offspring. The findings suggest that parental famine experiences are associated with an increased BMI in offspring, indicating an intergenerational impact of severe malnutrition on obesity risks.
JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND COMMUNITY HEALTH
(2023)