Evolutionary Biology

Stronger net selection on males across animals

1. Lennart Winkler
2. Maria Moiron
3. Edward H Morrow
4. Tim Janicke

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This study addresses an interesting and important question in evolutionary biology: how does the variance in fitness (components) vary between the sexes? In particular, it aims to evaluate whether there is a larger sex difference in systems with strong sexual selection. This study will be of considerable interest to researchers working on sexual coevolution and the role of sexual selection in promoting adaptation. However, there are some concerns regarding the limitations of the data and methods in support of the conclusions.

  (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 #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Evolution of irreversible somatic differentiation

1. Yuanxiao Gao
2. Hye Jin Park
3. Arne Traulsen
4. Yuriy Pichugin

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This paper will be of interest to researchers working on a broad range of questions in evolutionary biology, from the evolution of multicellularity to senescence and cancer. With their model, the authors study an often-neglected aspect of cellular differentiation and division of labour. While the model is relatively simple, the premise and the findings are thought-provoking and this study can potentially provide the groundwork for further investigation.

  (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

Novel neuroanatomical integration and scaling define avian brain shape evolution and development

1. Akinobu Watanabe
2. Amy M Balanoff
3. Paul M Gignac
4. M Eugenia L Gold
5. Mark A Norell

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Watanabe and colleagues analyse endocasts from extant (and some fossil) material to identify the distinct evolutionary and developmental patterns governing the growth and scaling relationships found in avian brains. The use of sophisticated geometric morphometrics, high-quality digital endocasts, and a suite of multivariate statistical tests robustly support the findings asserted in the paper, namely that crown birds exhibit a distinct allometric relationship that dictates their brain evolution and development. This paper is of broad interest to those working in comparative and evolutionary neuroanatomy as well as vertebrate paleontology.

  (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

Cis-regulatory variants affect gene expression dynamics in yeast

1. Ching-Hua Shih
2. Justin Fay

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The authors use RNAseq in yeast hybrids to study the effect of cis-variation on evolutionary divergence in gene expression and expression dynamics. Importantly, some of the findings are further confirmed using reporter assays. This is a clever and efficient approach that allows obtaining a genome-wide view of how cis-sequence variation affects expression. What sets this study apart from previous work is that the authors use hybrids across different genetic distances, separate expression levels and dynamics by sampling across different time points during an environmental shift, and also investigate 3' sequences. The main conclusions confirm that SNPs and InDels both affect gene expression as well as dynamics, and that on average, InDels have larger effects compared to SNPs, especially on expression dynamics. Moreover, the results also reflect negative selection on expression levels, with the effect of some cis mutations compensated by other cis variation, which ultimately results in complex interactions between the different cis-acting polymorphisms. Together, the results further our understanding of how cis sequence variation supports divergence in gene expression levels and dynamics.

  (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

Nucleocapsid mutations R203K/G204R increase the infectivity, fitness, and virulence of SARS-CoV-2

1. Haibo Wu
2. Na Xing
3. Kaiwen Meng
4. Beibei Fu
5. Weiwei Xue
6. Pan Dong
7. Wanyan Tang
8. Yang Xiao
9. Gexin Liu
10. Haitao Luo
11. Wenzhuang Zhu
12. Xiaoyuan Lin
13. Geng Meng
14. Zhenglin Zhu

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Identification of evolutionary trajectories shared across human betacoronaviruses

1. Marina Escalera-Zamudio
2. Sergei L. Kosakovsky Pond
3. Natalia Martínez de la Viña
4. Bernardo Gutiérrez
5. Rhys P. D. Inward
6. Julien Thézé
7. Lucy van Dorp
8. Hugo G. Castelán-Sánchez
9. Thomas A. Bowden
10. Oliver G. Pybus
11. Ruben J.G. Hulswit

Reviewed by ScreenIT

SARS-CoV-2 convergent evolution as a guide to explore adaptive advantage

1. Jiří Zahradník
2. Jaroslav Nunvar
3. Gideon Schreiber

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Mutation rate of SARS-CoV-2 and emergence of mutators during experimental evolution

1. Massimo Amicone
2. Vítor Borges
3. Maria João Alves
4. Joana Isidro
5. Líbia Zé-Zé
6. Sílvia Duarte
7. Luís Vieira
8. Raquel Guiomar
9. João Paulo Gomes
10. Isabel Gordo

Reviewed by ScreenIT

SARS-CoV-2 convergent evolution cannot be reliably inferred from phylogenetic analyses

1. Yoon-Seo Jo
2. Asif U. Tamuri
3. Greg J. Towers
4. Richard A. Goldstein

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Phylodynamic insights on the early spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the efficacy of intervention measures

1. Jiansi Gao
2. Michael R. May
3. Bruce Rannala
4. Brian R. Moore

Reviewed by ScreenIT