Evolutionary Biology

A direct experimental test of Ohno’s hypothesis

1. Ljiljana Mihajlovic
2. Bharat Ravi Iyengar
3. Florian Baier
4. Içvara Barbier
5. Justyna Iwaszkiewicz
6. Vincent Zoete
7. Andreas Wagner
8. Yolanda Schaerli

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This fundamental study uses a creative experimental system to directly test Ohno's hypothesis, which describes how and why new genes might evolve by duplication of existing ones. In agreement with existing criticism of Ohno's original idea, the authors present compelling evidence that having two gene copies does not speed up the evolution of a new function as posited by Ohno, but instead leads to the rapid inactivation of one of the copies through the accumulation of mostly deleterious mutations. These findings will be of broad interest to evolutionary biologists and geneticists.

Reviewed by eLife, preLights

The impact of social complexity on the efficacy of natural selection in termites

1. Camille Roux
2. Alice Ha
3. Arthur Weyna
4. Morgan Lode
5. Jonathan Romiguier

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology

The evolutionary history of the ancient weevil family Belidae (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) reveals the marks of Gondwana breakup and major floristic turnovers, including the rise of angiosperms

1. Xuankun Li
2. Adriana E Marvaldi
3. Rolf G Oberprieler
4. Dave Clarke
5. Brian D Farrell
6. Andrea Sequeira
7. M Silvia Ferrer
8. Charles O'Brien
9. Shayla Salzman
10. Seunggwan Shin
11. William Tang
12. Duane D McKenna

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  Through anchored phylogenomic analyses, this important study offers fresh insights into the evolutionary history of the plant diet and geographic distribution of Belidae weevil beetles. Employing robust methodological approaches, the authors propose that certain belid lineages have maintained a continuous association with Araucaria hosts since the Mesozoic era. Although the biogeographical analysis is somewhat limited by uncertainties in vicariance explanations, this convincing study enhances our understanding of Belidae's evolutionary dynamics and provides new perspectives on ancient community ecology.

Reviewed by eLife

Experimental evolution of evolvability

1. Michael Barnett
2. Lena Meister
3. Paul B. Rainey

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Insect metamorphosis is regulated differently between sexes by members of a microRNA cluster

1. Chade Li
2. Ki Kei Chan
3. Wenyan Nong
4. ShanShan Chen
5. Wai Lok So
6. Zhe Qu
7. Heidi YC Wu
8. Ho Yin Yip
9. Chi Bun Chan
10. Stephen S Tobe
11. William G Bendena
12. Zhen Peng Kai
13. Jerome HL Hui

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides a useful inventory of genes that are up- or down-regulated during the early metamorphic development of male and female larvae and proposes that the microRNA cluster miR-277/34 is involved in the development of sexual differences during early metamorphosis of Drosophila melanogaster, although its precise role remains unclear. The strength of evidence, based on a combination of diverse methods including mRNA and small RNA sequencing, in silico analyses, in vitro assays, and loss-of-function experiments, is incomplete as it lacks a general model and an examination of the potential effects of the miR-277/34 mutations on phenotypes such as morphology or developmental time. This work will be of interest to developmental biologists interested in sexual dimorphism and in the interplay between hormones and microRNAs during development.

Reviewed by eLife

Flexible reproductive seasonality in Africa-dwelling papionins is associated with low environmental productivity and high climatic unpredictability

1. Jules Dezeure
2. Julie Dagorrette
3. Lugdiwine Burtschell
4. Shahrina Chowdhury
5. Dieter Lukas
6. Larissa Swedell
7. Elise Huchard

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

Spatial and temporal distribution of ribosomes in single cells reveals aging differences between old and new daughters of Escherichia coli

1. Lin Chao
2. Chun Kuen Chan
3. Chao Shi
4. Ulla Camilla Rang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study is a potentially important contribution to the field of protein biosynthesis pathways and their link to aging, especially regarding the thorough analysis of variation in measures expected to correlate with elongation rate in old and new daughter cells derived from old and new mother cells. However, the imaging results, analysis, and methodologies are incomplete, as in its current form several key questions remain unanswered.

Reviewed by eLife

Reproductive modes in populations of late-acting self-incompatible and self-compatible polyploid Ludwigia grandiflora subsp. hexapetala in western Europe

1. Solenn Stoeckel
2. Ronan Becheler
3. Luis Portillo-Lemus
4. Marilyne Harang
5. Anne-Laure Besnard
6. Gilles Lassalle
7. Romain Causse-Védrines
8. Sophie Michon-Coudouel
9. Daniel J. Park
10. Bernard J. Pope
11. Eric J. Petit
12. Dominique Barloy

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology

Harbouring Starships : The accumulation of large Horizontal Gene Transfers in Domesticated and Pathogenic Fungi

1. Samuel O’Donnell
2. Gabriela Rezende
3. Jean-Philippe Vernadet
4. Alodie Snirc
5. Jeanne Ropars

Reviewed by PREreview

Direct inference of the distribution of fitness effects of spontaneous mutations from recombinant inbred C. elegans mutation accumulation lines

1. Timothy A. Crombie
2. Moein Rajaei
3. Ayush S. Saxena
4. Lindsay M. Johnson
5. Sayran Saber
6. Robyn E. Tanny
7. José Miguel Ponciano
8. Erik C. Andersen
9. Juannan Zhou
10. Charles F. Baer

Reviewed by Arcadia Science