Evolutionary Biology

Effective population size does not explain long-term variation in genome size and transposable element content in animals

1. Alba Marino
2. Gautier Debaecker
3. Anna-Sophie Fiston-Lavier
4. Annabelle Haudry
5. Benoit Nabholz

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study offers a powerful empirical test of a highly influential hypothesis in population genetics. It incorporates a large number of animal genomes spanning a broad phylogenetic spectrum and treats them in a rigorous unified pipeline, providing the convincing negative result that effective population size scales neither with the content of transposable elements nor with overall genome size. These observations demonstrate that there is still no simple, global hypothesis that can explain the observed variation in transposable element content and genome size in animals.

Reviewed by eLife

Trophic eggs affect caste determination in the ant Pogonomyrmex rugosus

1. Eléonore Genzoni
2. Tanja Schwander
3. Laurent Keller

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important manuscript by Genzoni et al. reports the striking discovery of a regulatory role for trophic eggs in ant caste determination. Prior to this study, trophic eggs were widely assumed to play only a nutritional role in the colony, but this compelling study shows that trophic eggs can suppress queen development, and therefore regulate caste determination in specific social contexts.

Reviewed by eLife

The general version of Hamilton’s rule

1. Matthijs van Veelen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Kin selection and inclusive fitness have generated significant controversy. This paper reconsiders the general form of Hamilton's rule in which benefits and costs are defined as regression coefficients, with higher-order coefficients being added to accommodate non-linear interactions. The paper is a landmark contribution to the field with compelling, systematic analysis, giving clarity to long-standing debates.

Reviewed by eLife

Performance evaluation of adaptive introgression classification methods

1. Jules Romieu
2. Ghislain Camarata
3. Pierre-André Crochet
4. Miguel de Navascués
5. Raphaël Leblois
6. François Rousset

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology

Learning the Shape of Evolutionary Landscapes: Geometric Deep Learning Reveals Hidden Structure in Phenotype-to-Fitness Maps

1. Manuel Razo-Mejia
2. Madhav Mani
3. Dmitri A. Petrov

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Divergent organelle allocation in the evolution of sperm gigantism revealed from subcellular quantification of nematode sperm with electron microscopy

1. Rebecca Schalkowski
2. Asher D. Cutter

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

An initial report of circa 241,000- to 335,000-year-old rock engravings and their relation to Homo naledi in the Rising Star cave system, South Africa

1. Lee R Berger
2. John Hawks
3. Agustín Fuentes
4. Dirk Van Rooyen
5. Mathabela Tsikoane
6. Maropeng Mpete
7. Samuel Nkwe
8. Keneiloe Molopyane

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This paper presents important information about potential Homo naledi-associated markings discovered on the walls of the Hill Antechamber of the Rising Star Cave system, South Africa. If confirmed, the antiquity, intentionality, and authorship of the reported markings will have profound archaeological implications, as such behaviors are otherwise widely considered to be unique to our species, Homo sapiens. This report concerns preliminary findings and as it stands the study is incomplete, with further work needed in the future to support the claims about the anthropogenic nature, age, and author of the engravings.

Reviewed by eLife

Complex genetic determinism of male-fertility restoration in the gynodioecious snail Physa acuta

1. Elpida Skarlou
2. Fanny Laugier
3. Kévin Béthune
4. Timothée Chenin
5. Jean-Marc Donnay
6. Céline Froissard
7. Patrice David

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology

Chromosome-level genome assembly of the lemon sole, Microstomus kitt (Pleuronectiformes: Pleuronectidae)

1. Marcel Nebenführ
2. David Prochotta
3. Maria A. Nilsson
4. Menno J. de Jong
5. Tunca D. Yazici
6. Fabienne Langefeld
7. Malambo Muloongo
8. Helena Woköck
9. Jakob Jilg
10. Sina C. Bender
11. Marvin M. Zangl
12. Juan-Manuel Ortega Guatame
13. Kimberley Williams
14. Moritz Sonnewald
15. Axel Janke

• Curated by GigaByte

  Editors Assessment:

  This Data Release paper presents the first genome assembly of the lemon sole (Microstomus kitt), a commercially important flatfish found in European coastal waters. It is also interesting that this work was carried out in a University course setting involving the students. The resulting chromosome-level genome was assembled using long-read PacBio HiFi sequencing and the Hi-C technique. The 628 Mbp reference (which is consistent with other Pleuronectidae fish species) is assembled into 24 chromosome-length scaffolds with high completeness, achieving a scaffold N50 of 27.2 Mbp. Peer review and data curation made the author clarify a few points and share all of the data and results in an open and well curated manner. The annotated genome of the lemon sole, with its high continuity, should therefore provide important reference data for future population genetic analyses and conservation strategies of this organism.

  This evaluation refers to version 1 of the preprint

Reviewed by GigaByte

High-throughput neutralization measurements correlate strongly with evolutionary success of human influenza strains

1. Caroline Kikawa
2. Andrea N Loes
3. John Huddleston
4. Marlin D Figgins
5. Philippa Steinberg
6. Tachianna Griffiths
7. Elizabeth M Drapeau
8. Heidi Peck
9. Ian G Barr
10. Janet A Englund
11. Scott E Hensley
12. Trevor Bedford
13. Jesse D Bloom

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study advances our understanding of population-level immune responses to influenza in both children and adults. The strength of the evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling, with high-throughput profiling assays and mathematical modeling. The work will be of interest to immunologists, virologists, vaccine developers, and those working on mathematical modeling of infectious diseases.

Reviewed by eLife