Evolutionary Biology

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

Genome-wide association and environmental suppression of the mortal germline phenotype of wild C. elegans

1. Lise Frézal
2. Marie Saglio
3. Gaotian Zhang
4. Luke Noble
5. Aurélien Richaud
6. Marie-Anne Félix

Reviewed by Review Commons

Broca’s area, variation and taxic diversity in early Homo from Koobi Fora (Kenya)

1. Amélie Beaudet
2. Edwin de Jager

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study uses the brain endocast of a ~1.9-million-year-old hominin fossil from Kenya, attributed to genus Homo, to show that the organization of the Broca's area in members of early Homo was primitive. Specifically, the prefrontal sulcal pattern in this early Homo specimen more closely resembles that of chimpanzees than of modern humans. Because Broca's area is associated with speech function, the compelling evidence from this study is relevant for understanding the timing and trajectory of evolution of speech related traits in our genus. Coupled with its potential implications for taxonomic classification, this study will be of interest to paleoanthropologists, paleontologists, archaeologists, and neuroscientists.

Reviewed by eLife

Evolutionary consequences of nascent multicellular life cycles

1. Jennifer T Pentz
2. Kathryn MacGillivray
3. James G DuBose
4. Peter L Conlin
5. Emma Reinhardt
6. Eric Libby
7. William C Ratcliff

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This Pentz et al study potentially provides fundamental insight into the evolution of multicellularity by experimentally demonstrating that yeast strains that form clonal groups evolve stronger group traits than ones that aggregate into non-clonal groups. While the repeatability of their experiments, supported by genomic analyses and models is compelling, the experimental design may be inadequate and would need to be extended to better support the main claims.

Reviewed by eLife

Natural genetic variation in a dopamine receptor is associated with variation in female fertility in Drosophila melanogaster

1. Richard F. Lyman
2. Rachel A. Lyman
3. Akihiko Yamamoto
4. Wen Huang
5. Susan T. Harbison
6. Shanshan Zhou
7. Robert R. H. Anholt
8. Trudy F. C. Mackay

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Selection on plastic adherence leads to hyper-multicellular strains and incidental virulence in the budding yeast

1. Luke I Ekdahl
2. Juliana A Salcedo
3. Matthew M Dungan
4. Despina V Mason
5. Dulguun Myagmarsuren
6. Helen A Murphy

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The origin of virulence in pathogenic microbes is not understood for many microbial species. The concept of 'accidental virulence' was proposed as a mechanism by which a microbe could acquire the capacity for virulence through interaction with other microbial species, such as amoeba. This paper adds an important new dimension to that concept by showing that the capacity for virulence can emerge from abiotic interactions, such as adherence to plastic.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Pollen-feeding delays reproductive senescence and maintains toxicity of Heliconius erato

1. Erika C. Pinheiro de Castro
2. Josie McPherson
3. Glennis Jullian
4. Anniina L. K. Mattila
5. Søren Bak
6. Stephen H. Montgomery
7. Chris D. Jiggins

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology