Evolutionary Biology

Random genetic drift sets an upper limit on mRNA splicing accuracy in metazoans

1. Florian Bénitière
2. Anamaria Necsulea
3. Laurent Duret

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This fundamental study evaluates the evolutionary significance of variations in the accuracy of the intron-splicing process across vertebrates and insects. Using a powerful combination of comparative and population genomics approaches, the authors present convincing evidence that higher rates of alternative splicing tend to be observed in species with lower effective population size, a key prediction of the drift-barrier hypothesis. The analysis is carefully conducted and has broad implications beyond the studied species. As such, it will strongly appeal to anyone interested in the evolution of genome architecture and the optimisation of genetic systems.

Reviewed by eLife, Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology

The molecular mechanism and evolutionary divergence of caspase 3/7-regulated gasdermin E activation

1. Hang Xu
2. Zihao Yuan
3. Kunpeng Qin
4. Shuai Jiang
5. Li Sun

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study elucidates the molecular divergence of caspase 3 and 7 in the vertebrate lineage. Convincing biochemical and mutational data provide evidence that in humans, caspase 7 has lost the ability to cleave gasdermin E due to changes in a key residue, S234. The diversification and specialization of gasdermins such as gasdermin E in humans compared to early vertebrates such as teleosts may enable each human gasdermin molecule to have more restricted and tightly regulated physiological functions in different cell death pathways.

Reviewed by eLife

How did UGA codon translation as tryptophan evolve in certain ciliates? A critique of Kachale et al. 2023 Nature

1. Estienne Carl Swart
2. Christiane Emmerich
3. Kwee Boon Brandon Seah
4. Minakshi Singh
5. Yekaterina Shulgina
6. Aditi Singh

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The manuscript explores the ways in which the genetic code evolves, specifically how stop codons are reassigned to become sense codons. The authors present phylogenetic data showing that mutations at position 67 of the termination factor are present in organisms that nevertheless use the UGA codon as a stop codon, thereby questioning the importance of this position in the reassignment of stop codons. Alternative models on the role of eRF1 would reflect a more balanced view of the data. Overall, the data are solid and these findings will be valuable to the genomic/evolution fields.

Reviewed by eLife

Evolutionary rate covariation is a reliable predictor of co-functional interactions but not necessarily physical interactions

1. Jordan Little
2. Maria Chikina
3. Nathan L Clark

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This useful study seeks to address the importance of physical interaction between proteins in higher-order complexes for covariation of evolutionary rates at different sites in these interacting proteins. Following up on a previous analysis with a smaller dataset, the authors provide compelling evidence that the exact contribution of physical interactions, if any, remains difficult to quantify. The work will be of relevance to anyone interested in protein evolution.

Reviewed by eLife

Distinct patterns of genetic variation at low-recombining genomic regions represent haplotype structure

1. Jun Ishigohoka
2. Karen Bascón-Cardozo
3. Andrea Bours
4. Janina Fuß
5. Arang Rhie
6. Jacquelyn Mountcastle
7. Bettina Haase
8. William Chow
9. Joanna Collins
10. Kerstin Howe
11. Marcela Uliano-Silva
12. Olivier Fedrigo
13. Erich D. Jarvis
14. Javier Pérez-Tris
15. Juan Carlos Illera
16. Miriam Liedvogel

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology

How to survive the mutational meltdown: lessons from plant RNA viruses

1. Guillaume Lafforgue
2. Marie Lefebvre
3. Thierry Michon
4. Santiago F. Elena

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology

Coevolution with toxic prey produces functional trade-offs in sodium channels of predatory snakes

1. Robert E. del Carlo
2. Jessica S. Reimche
3. Haley A. Moniz
4. Michael T.J. Hague
5. Shailesh R. Agarwal
6. Edmund D. Brodie
7. Edmund D. Brodie
8. Normand Leblanc
9. Chris R. Feldman

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study describes an investigation of the properties of two heterologously-expressed Nav1.4 channels, with mutations close to the selectivity filter found in tetrodotoxin(TTX)-resistant snakes. The authors studied these mutants by electrophysiological methods, assessed the muscle properties of two types of snakes bearing these mutations, and built homology models of the channels to hypothesize a molecular explanation of the altered channel properties. The methods employed and the results are generally solid, although some aspects would benefit from additional experiments and a more nuanced discussion.

Reviewed by eLife

Can mechanistic constraints on recombination reestablishment explain the long-term maintenance of degenerate sex chromosomes?

1. Thomas Lenormand
2. Denis Roze

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology

Evolution of novel sensory organs in fish with legs

1. Corey AH Allard
2. Amy L Herbert
3. Stephanie P Krueger
4. Qiaoyi Liang
5. Brittany L Walsh
6. Andrew L Rhyne
7. Allex N Gourlay
8. Agnese Seminara
9. Maude W Baldwin
10. David M Kingsley
11. Nicholas W Bellono

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Community structure of heritable viruses in a Drosophila-parasitoids complex

1. Julien Varaldi
2. David Lepetit
3. Nelly Burlet
4. Camille Faber
5. Bérénice Baretje
6. Roland Allemand

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology