Evolutionary Biology

Tradeoffs explain scaling, sex differences, and seasonal oscillations in the remarkable weapons of snapping shrimp (Alpheus spp.)

1. Jason P Dinh
2. SN Patek

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study on snapping shrimp morphological weaponry presents important findings on trade-offs in investment in costly weaponry traits as related to body size and reproduction. Convincing evidence is based on the collection of an exceptional number of fields samples, the inclusion of three shrimp species, and the measurement of numerous morphological and behavioral traits. The evidence shows that there are size-dependent trade-offs, where males and females differ in weapon investment, as weapons are beneficial to males but expensive for females. The findings will be of broad interest to evolutionary biologists and researchers working in the field of animal behavior.

Reviewed by eLife

Nitrogenase resurrection and the evolution of a singular enzymatic mechanism

1. Amanda K Garcia
2. Derek F Harris
3. Alex J Rivier
4. Brooke M Carruthers
5. Azul Pinochet-Barros
6. Lance C Seefeldt
7. Betül Kaçar

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This manuscript reports valuable findings regarding the evolution of nitrogenases through ancestral sequence reconstruction and resurrection. The results are solid and support the conclusions of the study, and highlight the historical constraints that have been acting on this enzyme. The findings will be of interest for people interested in enzyme evolution in general and particularly for those interested in the evolution of nitrogenases.

Reviewed by eLife

Regulatory and coding sequences of TRNP1 co-evolve with brain size and cortical folding in mammals

1. Zane Kliesmete
2. Lucas Esteban Wange
3. Beate Vieth
4. Miriam Esgleas
5. Jessica Radmer
6. Matthias Hülsmann
7. Johanna Geuder
8. Daniel Richter
9. Mari Ohnuki
10. Magdelena Götz
11. Ines Hellmann
12. Wolfgang Enard

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This is an important paper that combines comparative analysis and experimental assays to investigate the role of protein-coding and regulatory changes at TRNP1 in mammalian brain evolution. The evidence supporting a contribution of TRNP1 is convincing, although the link between protein-coding changes and trait evolution is stronger and more readily interpretable than the data on gene regulation. The work will be of interest to researchers in the areas of mammalian evolution, brain evolution, and evolutionary genetics.

Reviewed by eLife

Structural screens identify candidate human homologs of insect chemoreceptors and cryptic Drosophila gustatory receptor-like proteins

1. Richard Benton
2. Nathaniel J Himmel

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  Overall, this manuscript provides fundamental advances to our understanding of the ancestry of insect gustatory and olfactory receptors, by identifying new members of these two related ion channel families in distant species. The approaches to compare protein structure are exceptional and use cutting-edge techniques, going beyond the commonly used approaches. The authors suggest that the family of odorant and gustatory receptors have a common origin and share structural homology in very distant organisms, although the possibility of convergent evolution still exists. This work will serve as a reference for scientists working on insect olfaction and for those working on molecular evolution.

Reviewed by eLife

Comparing the evolutionary dynamics of predominant SARS-CoV-2 virus lineages co-circulating in Mexico

1. Hugo G Castelán-Sánchez
2. Luis Delaye
3. Rhys PD Inward
4. Simon Dellicour
5. Bernardo Gutierrez
6. Natalia Martinez de la Vina
7. Celia Boukadida
8. Oliver G Pybus
9. Guillermo de Anda Jáuregui
10. Plinio Guzmán
11. Marisol Flores-Garrido
12. Óscar Fontanelli
13. Maribel Hernández Rosales
14. Amilcar Meneses
15. Gabriela Olmedo-Alvarez
16. Alfredo Heriberto Herrera-Estrella
17. Alejandro Sánchez-Flores
18. José Esteban Muñoz-Medina
19. Andreu Comas-García
20. Bruno Gómez-Gil
21. Selene Zárate
22. Blanca Taboada
23. Susana López
24. Carlos F Arias
25. Moritz UG Kraemer
26. Antonio Lazcano
27. Marina Escalera Zamudio

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The authors document an in-depth analysis of introduction patterns of 5 variant waves in Mexico. This is an important analysis and dataset since the genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Mexico is generally understudied, and this paper contributes important missing information. The phylogenetic analyses are solid and well-presented, but the lack of detail regarding the collection of samples across Mexican states makes it difficult to evaluate conclusions about the relationship between observed viral lineages and local case counts. Additionally, in its current form, the manuscript is mostly descriptive, without clear hypotheses tested or discussion of implications.

Reviewed by eLife

Complex plumages spur rapid color diversification in kingfishers (Aves: Alcedinidae)

1. Chad M Eliason
2. Jenna M McCullough
3. Shannon J Hackett
4. Michael J Andersen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important work advances our understanding of the factors that affect the speed of colour evolution in birds and the resulting diversification patterns. It provides compelling evidence that more complex plumage coloration can lead to rapid colour evolution in kingfishers, and could pave the way for more comprehensive analyses that fully embrace the multidimensional nature of colour variation. Hence, the results will be of broad interest to ornithologists and evolutionary biologists in general, once the authors have streamlined the theoretical framework and explained the novel methodological approaches in more detail.

Reviewed by eLife

Coevolutionary dynamics via adaptive feedback in collective-risk social dilemma game

1. Linjie Liu
2. Xiaojie Chen
3. Attila Szolnoki

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The paper provides a valuable, in-depth mathematical analysis of the coevolutionary dynamics resulting from a coupling of players' strategies and (collective) risk, as well as illustrative numerical simulations of the system's trajectories for different starting conditions. It is therefore a solid contribution to our understanding of how cooperation can be sustained when there is feedback between individual decisions and the global risk of disaster. This paper will be of interest to scientists working on mathematical biology/ecology, and more generally various aspects of human decision-making, the interplay between human decisions and the environment, and public goods provision.

Reviewed by eLife

Paths to adaptation under fluctuating nitrogen starvation: The spectrum of adaptive mutations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is shaped by transposons and microhomology-mediated recombination

1. Michelle Hays
2. Katja Schwartz
3. Danica T. Schmidtke
4. Dimitra Aggeli
5. Gavin Sherlock

Reviewed by Review Commons

Accumulated metagenomic studies reveal recent migration, whole genome evolution, and undiscovered diversity of orthomyxoviruses

1. Gytis Dudas
2. Joshua Batson

Reviewed by Review Commons

Epidermal threads reveal the origin of hagfish slime

1. Yu Zeng
2. David C Plachetzki
3. Kristen Nieders
4. Hannah Campbell
5. Marissa Cartee
6. M Sabrina Pankey
7. Kennedy Guillen
8. Douglas Fudge

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The study is a careful investigation of the physical properties of hagfish slime and the underlying cellular framework that enables this extraordinary evolutionary innovation. It is a careful and detailed measurement with clear images. However, there is a need for a better contextualizing of the findings as a broader biological question, including the evolution of functional novelty, the adaptive processes, and the links between genetic and phenotypic evolution. Furthermore, the conclusions on the evolutionary origins and underlying genetics of hagfish slime based on comparative transcriptomic data need to be better supported.

Reviewed by eLife