Evolutionary Biology

Evaluating the Impact and Detectability of Mass Extinctions on Total-Evidence Dating

1. Minghao Du
2. Wenhui Wang
3. Jingqiang Tan
4. Joëlle Barido-Sottani

Reviewed by preLights

Fluidity and Predictability of Epistasis on an Intragenic Fitness Landscape

1. Sarvesh Baheti
2. Namratha Raj
3. Supreet Saini

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This paper addresses the significant question of quantifying epistasis patterns, which affect the predictability of evolution, by reanalyzing a recently published combinatorial deep mutational scan experiment. The findings are useful, showing that epistasis is fluid, i.e. strongly background dependent, but that fitness effects of mutations are statistically predictable based on the background fitness. While the general approach appears solid, some claims remain incompletely supported by the analysis, as arbitrary cutoffs are used and the description of methods lacks specifics. This analysis should be of interest to the community working on fitness landscapes.

Reviewed by eLife

The dynamic evolution of panarthropod germ cell specification mechanisms

1. Jonchee A. Kao
2. Emily L. Rivard
3. Rishabh R. Kapoor
4. Cassandra G. Extavour

Reviewed by preLights

Coalescence and translation: A language model for population genetics

1. Kevin Korfmann
2. Nathaniel S. Pope
3. Melinda Meleghy
4. Aurélien Tellier
5. Andrew D. Kern

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Tandem Duplication of Serpin Genes Yields Functional Variation and Snake Venom Inhibitors

1. Meilyn S Ward
2. Matthew L Holding
3. Laura M Haynes
4. Mark J Margres
5. Marjorie D Matocq
6. David Ginsburg

Reviewed by preLights

Evolutionary Adaptations of IRG1 Refines Itaconate Synthesis and Mitigates Innate Immunometabolism Trade-offs

1. Richard V Szeligowski
2. Francois Miros
3. Andres Saez
4. Marisa DeCiucis
5. Gunter P Wagner
6. Hongying Shen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study addresses the timely and interesting question of how itaconate generation emerged in evolution, using taxonomic analysis of the gene and enzyme cis-aconitate decarboxylase (CAD). The authors provide solid evidence identifying three CAD branches in metazoans and showing that the early metazoan paleo-form indeed generates aconitate and is already linked to innate immunity. They further provide limited evidence suggesting that taxonomic differences in subcellular localisation of this enzyme may allow for innate immune signalling without compromising cellular energetics. The implications of the study will be of high interest to the field of innate host defence and immunometabolism.

Reviewed by eLife