Evolutionary Biology

Evolutionary prediction for new echolocators

1. Qi Liu
2. Qin-Yang Hua
3. Rui Sun
4. Shui-Wang He
5. Meng-Cheng Li
6. Lu-Ye Shi
7. Peng Chen
8. Yuan-Shuo Ma
9. Qin Zhang
10. Xue-Long Jiang
11. Yong Wang
12. Peng Shi

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Divergent evolution of sleep functions

1. Michaela Joyce
2. Federica A. Falconio
3. Laurence Blackhurst
4. Lucia Prieto-Godino
5. Alice S. French
6. Giorgio F. Gilestro

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Genetic and karyotype divergence between parents affect clonality and sterility in hybrids

1. Anatolie Marta
2. Tomáš Tichopád
3. Oldřich Bartoš
4. Jiří Klíma
5. Mujahid Ali Shah
6. Vendula Šlechtová Bohlen
7. Joerg Bohlen
8. Karel Halačka
9. Lukáš Choleva
10. Matthias Stöck
11. Dmitrij Dedukh
12. Karel Janko

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This paper provides important insights into how asexual reproduction can arise in interspecific hybrids. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling, with rigorous molecular cytogenetic experiments showing the production of clonal gametes is common across hybrids between closely to moderately divergent sexual species. By highlighting the potential for asexuality to evolve in hybrids during a narrow window of species divergence, this work will be of broad interest to evolutionary biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Evolution of haploid and diploid populations reveals common, strong, and variable pleiotropic effects in non-home environments

1. Vivian Chen
2. Milo S Johnson
3. Lucas Hérissant
4. Parris T Humphrey
5. David C Yuan
6. Yuping Li
7. Atish Agarwala
8. Samuel B Hoelscher
9. Dmitri A Petrov
10. Michael M Desai
11. Gavin Sherlock

Reviewed by Review Commons

Coevolution of the CDCA7-HELLS ICF-related nucleosome remodeling complex and DNA methyltransferases

1. Hironori Funabiki
2. Isabel E Wassing
3. Qingyuan Jia
4. Ji-Dung Luo
5. Thomas Carroll

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important manuscript reveals signatures of co-evolution of two nucleosome remodeling factors, Lsh/HELLS and CDCA7, which are involved in the regulation of eukaryotic DNA methylation. The results suggest that the roles for the two factors in DNA methylation maintenance pathways can be traced back to the last eukaryotic common ancestor and that the CDC7A-HELLS-DNMT axis shaped the evolutionary retention of DNA methylation in eukaryotes. The solid evolutionary analyses form a strong basis for experimental follow-up studies. The work should be of interest to colleagues in the fields of evolutionary biology, chromatin biology and genome biology.

Reviewed by eLife

How microscopic epistasis and clonal interference shape the fitness trajectory in a spin glass model of microbial long-term evolution

1. Nicholas M Boffi
2. Yipei Guo
3. Chris H Rycroft
4. Ariel Amir

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study describes a high performance computational approach to interrogate how microscopic epistasis and clonal interference affect evolutionary dynamics in a spin glass model of microbial evolution. The study offers several insights that can aid in our understanding of the forces that operate in adaptive evolution. The evidence provided is compelling, with its rigorous use of models and analytical descriptions of how these forces manifest in evolution.

Reviewed by eLife

Down the Penrose stairs, or how selection for fewer recombination hotspots maintains their existence

1. Zachary Baker
2. Molly Przeworski
3. Guy Sella

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study reports an important theoretical model with simulations of meiotic recombination hotspots and Prdm9 evolution. By integrating recently identified biological properties of Prdm9, the model provides compelling evidence for novel features of hotspots and Prdm9 evolution. Yet, the model, the different steps in implementing parameters, and the predictions are difficult to follow and would benefit from clarification.

Reviewed by eLife

Mechanistic and evolutionary insights into isoform-specific ‘supercharging’ in DCLK family kinases

1. Aarya Venkat
2. Grace Watterson
3. Dominic P Byrne
4. Brady O'Boyle
5. Safal Shrestha
6. Nathan Gravel
7. Emma E Fairweather
8. Leonard A Daly
9. Claire Bunn
10. Wayland Yeung
11. Ishan Aggarwal
12. Samiksha Katiyar
13. Claire E Eyers
14. Patrick A Eyers
15. Natarajan Kannan

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study expands on current knowledge of allosteric diversity in the human kinome by C-terminal splicing variants using as a paradigm DCLK1. The authors provide convincing evolutionary and some mechanistic evidence how C-terminal isoform specific variants generated by alternative splicing can regulate catalytic activity by means of coupling specific phosphorylation sites to dynamical and conformational changes controlling active site and substrate pocket occupancy, as well as protein-protein interactions. The data will be of interest to researchers in the kinase and signal transduction field.

Reviewed by eLife

Large-scale analyses reveal the contribution of adaptive evolution in pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungal species

1. Danilo Pereira
2. Melvin D Bolton
3. Timothy L Friesen
4. Wolfgang Stephan
5. Julien Y Dutheil
6. Eva H Stukenbrock

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Whole genomes from the extinct Xerces Blue butterfly can help identify declining insect species

1. Toni de-Dios
2. Claudia Fontsere
3. Pere Renom
4. Josefin Stiller
5. Laia Llovera
6. Marcela Uliano-Silva
7. Alejandro Sánchez-Gracia
8. Charlotte Wright
9. Esther Lizano
10. Berta Caballero
11. Arcadi Navarro
12. Sergi Civit
13. Robert K Robbins
14. Mark Blaxter
15. Tomàs Marquès
16. Roger Vila
17. Carles Lalueza-Fox

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study illustrates the value of museum samples for understanding past genetic variability in the genomes of populations and species, including those that no longer exist. The authors present genomic sequencing data for the extinct Xerces Blue butterfly and report convincing evidence of declining population sizes and increases in inbreeding beginning 75,000 years ago, which strongly contrasts to the patterns observed in similar data from its closest relative, the extant Silvery Blue butterfly. Such long-term population health indicators may be used to highlight still extant but especially vulnerable-to-extinction insect species – irrespective of their current census population size abundance.

Reviewed by eLife