Evolutionary Biology

The last days of Aporia crataegi (L.) in Britain: Evaluating genomic erosion in an extirpated butterfly

1. Rebecca Whitla
2. Korneel Hens
3. James Hogan
4. Geoff Martin
5. Casper Breuker
6. Timothy G. Shreeve
7. Saad Arif

Reviewed by PREreview

Interplay between fecundity, sexual and growth selection on the spring phenology of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.).

1. Sylvie Oddou-Muratorio
2. Aurore Bontemps
3. Julie Gauzere
4. Etienne K Klein

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology

The evolution of reduced facilitation in a four-species bacterial community

1. Philippe Piccardi
2. Eric Ulrich
3. Marc Garcia-Garcerà
4. Rita Di Martino
5. Samuele E A Testa
6. Sara Mitri

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Rapid life-history evolution reinforces competitive asymmetry between invasive and resident species

1. Elodie Chapuis
2. Philippe Jarne
3. Patrice David

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology

DNA methylation enables recurrent endogenization of giant viruses in an animal relative

1. Luke A. Sarre
2. Iana V. Kim
3. Vladimir Ovchinnikov
4. Marine Olivetta
5. Hiroshi Suga
6. Omaya Dudin
7. Arnau Sebé-Pedrós
8. Alex de Mendoza

Reviewed by preLights

A Critical Reexamination of Recovered SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing Data

1. Florence Débarre
2. Zach Hensel

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

The evolution of transposable elements in Brachypodium distachyon is governed by purifying selection, while neutral and adaptive processes play a minor role

1. Robert Horvath
2. Nikolaos Minadakis
3. Yann Bourgeois
4. Anne C Roulin

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study seeks to disentangle the different selective forces shaping the evolutionary dynamics of transposable elements (TEs) in the wild grass Brachypodium distachyon. Using haplotype-length metrics, and genetic and environmental differentiation tests, the authors present convincing evidence that positive selection on TE polymorphisms is rare and that the distribution of TE ages points to purifying selection being the main force acting on TE evolution in this species. This study will be relevant for anyone interested in the role of TEs in evolution and adaptation.

Reviewed by eLife

Exploring the effects of ecological parameters on the spatial structure of genetic tree sequences

1. Mariadaria K. Ianni-Ravn
2. Martin Petr
3. Fernando Racimo

Reviewed by Peer Community in 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