Evolutionary Biology

SARS-COV-2 C.1.2 variant is highly mutated but may possess reduced affinity for ACE2 receptor

1. Xiang-Jiao Yang

Reviewed by ScreenIT

SARS-COV-2 γ variant acquires spike P681H or P681R for improved viral fitness

1. Xiang-Jiao Yang

Reviewed by ScreenIT

A kinetic error filtering mechanism for enzyme-free copying of nucleic acid sequences

1. Tobias Göppel
2. Benedikt Obermayer
3. Irene A. Chen
4. Ulrich Gerland

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  How was it possible for prebiotic RNA or DNA molecules to reliably self-replicate, in the absence of sophisticated enzymes capable of error correction? This paper proposes a novel mechanism for error correction in templated copying, and is therefore of interest for cell and evolutionary biologists, biophysicists and readers in the field of origin-of-life science. The kinetic error filtering proposed here does not require sophisticated machinery but reduces errors significantly while retaining a reasonable yield rate. Crucial to this mechanism is a cyclically varying environment, such as might exist in hydrothermal vents. The plausibility of the mechanism is supported by thoughtful and rigourous calculations rooted in an experimentally-grounded model.

  (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, Reviewer #2 and Reviewer #3 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Unconventional conservation reveals structure-function relationships in the synaptonemal complex

1. Lisa E Kursel
2. Henry D Cope
3. Ofer Rog

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Although the synaptonemal complex (SC) is an essential, deeply conserved structure that holds meiotic chromosomes together, the constituent proteins evolve exceptionally rapidly. This rapid evolution in turn has hindered the identification of SC proteins based solely on sequence homology. This manuscript overcomes this challenge by developing and validating a clever protein structure-based approach that leverages sequence divergence - rather than sequence conservation - to identify novel SC components.

  (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. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Phylogenomic analyses of echinoid diversification prompt a re-evaluation of their fossil record

1. Nicolás Mongiardino Koch
2. Jeffrey R Thompson
3. Avery S Hiley
4. Marina F McCowin
5. A Frances Armstrong
6. Simon E Coppard
7. Felipe Aguilera
8. Omri Bronstein
9. Andreas Kroh
10. Rich Mooi
11. Greg W Rouse

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The study by Koch et al presents new phylogenomic and molecular clock analyses of echinoids. The study uses state of the art phylogenetic approaches and includes 17 newly sequenced genomes and transcriptomes, which are used to estimate the tree topology and divergence times of major groups of echinoids. The molecular clock-estimated times of origin of particular echinoid lineages predate the lineages' appearance on the fossil record by tens of millions of years, prompting re-evaluation of the early evolution of echinoid diversity.

  (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

Estimating dispersal rates and locating genetic ancestors with genome-wide genealogies

1. Matthew M Osmond
2. Graham Coop

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The relationship between homologous chromosomes sampled in a population can be described by an "ancestral recombination graph" or as a "forest" of correlated coalescent trees describing the relationship at each locus on the chromosome. It has long been clear that this graph contains enormous amounts of information about the history of the population, and should be used in analysis. Hitherto this has been computationally infeasible, but recently developed methods are starting to make it possible, and this paper is one of the first attempts to do so. The paper should be of interest to anyone working with population genetic inference, although there are concerns about possible bias in the estimates from the 1001 Arabidopsis Genomes that need to be resolved.

  (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, Reviewer #2 and Reviewer #3 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Diverse mating phenotypes impact the spread of wtf meiotic drivers in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

1. José Fabricio López Hernández
2. Rachel M Helston
3. Jeffrey J Lange
4. R Blake Billmyre
5. Samantha H Schaffner
6. Michael T Eickbush
7. Scott McCroskey
8. Sarah E Zanders

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Meiotic drivers are selfish elements that distort segregation to be over-represented in offspring of heterozygotes. Multiple meiotic drive elements are known in the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, which can seem puzzling as this fungus has long been thought to undergo moslty same-clone mating because of its mating-type switching system. This manuscript reports theoretical and experimental analyses suggesting that the outcrossing rate can be high enough in this species to explain the spread of multiple meiotic drive elements. The findings support the emerging view that homothallic fungi can undergo quite high rates of outcrossing, which is also in agreement with evolutionary considerations on the evolution of mating types. This study can thus be of high relevance for scientists studying meiotic drivers and/or mating systems and their evolution.

  (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 and Reviewer #3 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Full Genome Nobecovirus Sequences From Malagasy Fruit Bats Define a Unique Evolutionary History for This Coronavirus Clade

1. Gwenddolen Kettenburg
2. Amy Kistler
3. Hafaliana Christian Ranaivoson
4. Vida Ahyong
5. Angelo Andrianiaina
6. Santino Andry
7. Joseph L. DeRisi
8. Anecia Gentles
9. Vololoniaina Raharinosy
10. Tsiry Hasina Randriambolamanantsoa
11. Ny Anjara Fifi Ravelomanantsoa
12. Cristina M. Tato
13. Philippe Dussart
14. Jean-Michel Heraud
15. Cara E. Brook

Reviewed by ScreenIT

An epi-evolutionary model to predict spore-producing pathogens adaptation to quantitative resistance in heterogeneous environments

1. Frédéric Fabre
2. Jean-Baptiste Burie
3. Arnaud Ducrot
4. Sébastien Lion
5. Quentin Richard
6. Ramsès Djidjou-Demasse

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Antigenic evolution of human influenza H3N2 neuraminidase is constrained by charge balancing

1. Yiquan Wang
2. Ruipeng Lei
3. Armita Nourmohammad
4. Nicholas C Wu

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This paper performs a systematic analysis of the fitness landscape of the influenza virus protein neuraminidase (NA). The paper analyzes 864 different combinations of mutations, over six genetic backgrounds. The main findings are that the fitness landscape correlates well across genetic backgrounds, and that natural evolution of neuraminidase seems to select for neutrally charged variants.

  (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, Reviewer #2 and Reviewer #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife