Evolutionary Biology

Does the seed fall far from the tree? Weak fine-scale genetic structure in a continuous Scots pine population

1. Alina K. Niskanen
2. Sonja T. Kujala
3. Katri Kärkkäinen
4. Outi Savolainen
5. Tanja Pyhäjärvi

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology

Stochastic parabolic growth promotes coexistence and a relaxed error threshold in RNA-like replicator populations

1. Mátyás Paczkó
2. Eörs Szathmáry
3. András Szilágyi

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides a valuable theoretical exploration of non-enzymatic sustained replication of RNA systems, in the parabolic growth regime of the evolution of putative primordial replicators. It provides convincing evidence that parabolic growth mitigates the error threshold catastrophe, thus demonstrating another way in which this regime contributes to the maintenance of genetic diversity. The findings shed light on relevant evolutionary regimes of primordial replicators, with potential applicability to our understanding of the origin of life.

Reviewed by eLife

Gene expression is the main driver of purifying selection in large penguin populations

1. Emiliano Trucchi
2. Piergiorgio Massa
3. Francesco Giannelli
4. Thibault Latrille
5. Flavia A. N. Fernandes
6. Lorena Ancona
7. Nils Chr Stenseth
8. Joan Ferrer Obiol
9. Josephine Paris
10. Giorgio Bertorelle
11. Céline Le Bohec

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology

A scenario for an evolutionary selection of ageing

1. Tristan Roget
2. Claire Macmurray
3. Pierre Jolivet
4. Sylvie Meleard
5. Michael Rera

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  Through a theoretical approach, this study makes important contributions to our understanding of the evolutionary causes of the ageing process. Using a simple individual-based model and computational simulations, the authors provide convincing evidence that ageing can be a trait under natural selection, opening the door for further discussion in the context of lifespan extension research.

Reviewed by eLife

Menopause has not evolved as a general trait in mammals: A response to ‘Do mammals have menopause?’

1. Simon N. Chapman
2. Samuel Ellis
3. Mirkka Lahdenperä
4. Darren P. Croft
5. Virpi Lummaa

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Epistasis facilitates functional evolution in an ancient transcription factor

1. Brian PH Metzger
2. Yeonwoo Park
3. Tyler N Starr
4. Joseph W Thornton

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study includes fundamental findings on protein evolution, namely that changes in function are largely attributable to pairwise rather than higher-order interactions, and that epistasis potentiates rather than constrains evolutionary paths. Compelling evidence supporting the conclusions is provided by applying a new model to a previously generated experimental dataset on deep mutational scanning of the DNA-binding domain (DBD) of steroid hormone receptor. The implications of this work are of considerable interest to protein biochemistry, evolutionary biology, and numerous other fields.

Reviewed by eLife

Evolution of tandem repeats in putative CSP to enhance its function: A recent and exclusive event in Plasmodium vivax in India

1. Manoswini Dash
2. Veena Pande
3. Aparup Das
4. Abhinav Sinha

Reviewed by preLights

Cross-species analysis of ARPP19 phosphorylation during oocyte meiotic maturation charts the emergence of a new cAMP-dependent role in vertebrates

1. Ferdinand Meneau
2. Pascal Lapébie
3. Enrico Maria Daldello
4. Tran Le
5. Sandra Chevalier
6. Evelyn Houliston
7. Catherine Jessus
8. Marika Miot

Reviewed by Review Commons

Evolutionary history of calcium-sensing receptors unveils hyper/hypocalcemia-causing mutations

1. Aylin Bircan
2. Nurdan Kuru
3. Onur Dereli
4. Berkay Selçuk
5. Ogün Adebali

Reviewed by Review Commons

Evolution and diversity of biomineralized columnar architecture in early Cambrian phosphatic-shelled brachiopods

1. Zhiliang Zhang
2. Zhifei Zhang
3. Lars Holmer
4. Timothy P Topper
5. Bing Pan
6. Guoxiang Li

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study examines the evolution of the pillars in the shell architecture of organo-phosphatic brachiopods. The phylogenetic implications of this shell structure in relation to other early Cambrian brachiopod families are interpreted based on solid evidence. As such, this paper with interesting ideas regarding the evolution of brachiopod shell structure contributes to our understanding of the ecology and evolution of brachiopods as a whole.

Reviewed by eLife