Evolutionary Biology

Distinguishing mutants that resist drugs via different mechanisms by examining fitness tradeoffs

1. Kara Schmidlin
2. Sam Apodaca
3. Daphne Newell
4. Alexander Sastokas
5. Grant Kinsler
6. Kerry Geiler-Samerotte

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides valuable new insights into the trade-offs associated with the evolution of drug resistance in the yeast S. cerevisiae, based on a solid approach to evolving and phenotyping hundreds of independent strains. The authors identify distinct phenotypic clusters, defined by their growth across defined conditions, which suggest that tradeoffs are diverse but at the same time could be limited to a few classes according to the underlying resistance mechanisms. The methodologies used align with the current state-of-the-art, and the data and analysis are solid as they broadly support the claims, with only a few minor weaknesses remaining after revision. This work will interest molecular biologists working on the evolution of new phenotypes and microbiologists studying multi-drug therapy.

Reviewed by eLife

Recent evolutionary origin and localized diversity hotspots of mammalian coronaviruses

1. Renan Maestri
2. Benoît Perez-Lamarque
3. Anna Zhukova
4. Hélène Morlon

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  Maestri et al report the absence of phylogenetic evidence supporting codiversification of mammalian coronaviruses and their hosts, leading to the important conclusion that the evolutionary history of the virus and its hosts are decoupled through frequent host switches. The evidence for frequent host switching, derived from state-of-the-art probabilistic modeling of co-evolution, is convincing. The study adds a new perspective to the ongoing debate over the timescale of coronavirus evolution.

Reviewed by eLife

Artificial selection improves pollutant degradation by bacterial communities

1. Flor I. Arias-Sánchez
2. Björn Vessman
3. Alice Haym
4. Géraldine Alberti
5. Sara Mitri

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

The protein domains of vertebrate species in which selection is more effective have greater intrinsic structural disorder

1. Catherine A Weibel
2. Andrew L Wheeler
3. Jennifer E James
4. Sara M Willis
5. Hanon McShea
6. Joanna Masel

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study develops a useful metric for quantifying codon usage adaptation - the Codon Adaptation Index of Species (CAIS). This metric permits direct comparisons of the strength of selection at the molecular level across species. The study is based on solid evidence, and the authors identify relationships between CAIS and the presence of disordered protein domains. Other correlations, such as the one between CAIS and body size, are weak and non-significant. In summary, the study introduces an interesting new approach to quantifying codon usage across species, which may be helpful in attempts to measure selection at the molecular level.

Reviewed by eLife

Annelid Comparative Genomics and the Evolution of Massive Lineage-Specific Genome Rearrangement in Bilaterians

1. Thomas D Lewin
2. Isabel Jiah-Yih Liao
3. Yi-Jyun Luo

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Genomic Signatures of Domestication in a Fungus Obligately Farmed by Leafcutter Ants

1. Caio A Leal-Dutra
2. Joel Vizueta
3. Tobias Baril
4. Pepijn W Kooij
5. Asta Rødsgaard-Jørgensen
6. Benjamin H Conlon
7. Daniel Croll
8. Jonathan Z Shik

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Environment by environment interactions (ExE) differ across genetic backgrounds (ExExG)

1. Kara Schmidlin
2. C. Brandon Ogbunugafor
3. Alexander Sastokas
4. Kerry Geiler-Samerotte

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

The genetic architecture of the load linked to dominant and recessive self-incompatibility alleles in Arabidopsis halleri and Arabidopsis lyrata

1. Audrey Le Veve
2. Mathieu Genete
3. Christelle Lepers-Blassiau
4. Chloé Ponitzki
5. Céline Poux
6. Xavier Vekemans
7. Eleonore Durand
8. Vincent Castric

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study presents valuable empirical work and simulations that are relevant for the evolution of genetic load linked to self-incompatibility alleles in two Arabidopsis species. The evidence supporting the findings is solid, although it remains to be seen how generalizable the conclusions are beyond the specific system investigated here, not least because the statistical significance varied between the two species. The work will be of relevance to geneticists interested in the evolution of allelic diversity in similar systems.

Reviewed by eLife

Biocalcification in porcelaneous foraminifera

1. Zofia Dubicka
2. Jarosław Tyszka
3. Agnieszka Pałczyńska
4. Michelle Höhne
5. Jelle Bijma
6. Max Jense
7. Nienke Klerks
8. Ulf Bickmeyer

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This manuscript provides important information on the calcification process, especially the properties and formation of freshly formed tests (the foraminiferan shells), in the miliolid foraminiferan species Pseudolachlanella eburnea. The evidence from the high-quality SEM images is convincing although the fluorescence images only provide indirect support for the calcification process.

Reviewed by eLife

Dynamic simulations of feeding and respiration of the early Cambrian periderm-bearing cnidarian polyps

1. Yiheng Zhang
2. Xing Wang
3. Jian Han
4. Juyue Xiao
5. Yuanyuan Yong
6. Chiyang Yu
7. Ning Yue
8. Jie Sun
9. Kaiyue He
10. Wenjing Hao
11. Tao Zhang
12. Bin Wang
13. Deng Wang
14. Xiaoguang Yang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study advances our understanding of early Cambrian cnidarian paleoecology and suggests that the reconstructed ancestral feeding and respiration mechanisms predate jet-propelled swimming utilized by modern jellyfish. The work combines solid evidence of fluid and structural mechanics modeling, simulating for the first time the feeding and respiratory capacities in a microfossil (Quadrapyrgites), which in turn opens new possibilities using this approach for paleontological research. Assuming that the prior interpretations and assumptions concerning the modeled organism's soft part and skeletal anatomy are correct, the hypotheses that (1) the organism could alternately contract and expand the oral region and (2) such movement increased feeding efficiency seem plausible.

Reviewed by eLife