Evolutionary Biology

An interpretable neural network unveils higher-order epistasis in large protein sequence-function relationships

1. Palash Sethi
2. Juannan Zhou

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this important work, the authors present a new transformer-based neural network designed to isolate and quantify higher-order epistasis in protein sequences. They provide solid evidence that higher-order epistasis can play key roles in protein function. This work will be of interest to the communities interested in modeling biological sequence data and understanding mutational effects.

Reviewed by eLife

The environmental context of the Middle-to-Late Stone Age Transition in eastern Africa: seasonality as a key factor

1. Marianna Fusco
2. Behailu Habte
3. Alice Leplongeon
4. Andrea Manica
5. Enza Elena Spinapolice
6. Michela Leonardi

Reviewed by Peer Community in Archaeology

Improved genome assembly of whale shark, the world’s biggest fish: revealing “chromocline” in intragenomic heterogeneity

1. Yawako W. Kawaguchi
2. Rui Matsumoto
3. Shigehiro Kuraku

Reviewed by GigaScience

The fate of recessive deleterious or overdominant mutations near mating-type loci under partial selfing

1. Emilie Tezenas
2. Tatiana Giraud
3. Amandine Véber
4. Sylvain Billiard

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology

Convergent Cellular Adaptation to Freeze-Thaw Stress via a Quiescence-like State in Yeast

1. Charuhansini Tvishamayi
2. Farhan Ali
3. Nandita Chaturvedi
4. Nithila Madhu-Kumar
5. Zeenat Rashida
6. Chandan Muni Reddy
7. Ankita Ray
8. Stephan Herminghaus
9. Shashi Thutupalli

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides valuable insight into stress biology by showing that yeast populations can rapidly evolve a trehalose producing resting state that substantially improves survival and rapid regrowth after freeze-thaw. This finding is consistent with the role of trehalose metabolism as a biophysical adaptation that is broadly relevant to the community working on environmental resilience and dormancy. The evidence is convincing: the authors integrate experimental evolution, cell-level biophysical measurements, and modelling in a mutually reinforcing manner.

Reviewed by eLife

Gene-Culture Coevolution Favours the Emergence of Traditions in Mate Choice through Conformist Social Learning

1. D. Federico
2. M. Cosme
3. F.X. Dechaume-Moncharmont
4. J.B. Ferdy
5. A. Pocheville

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology