Evolutionary Biology

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

Large inversions in Lake Malawi cichlids are associated with habitat preference, lineage, and sex determination

1. Nikesh M Kumar
2. Taylor L Cooper
3. Thomas D Kocher
4. J Todd Streelman
5. Patrick T McGrath

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Using several hundreds of samples and cutting-edge genomic methods, including BioNano, PacBio, HiFi, and advanced bioinformatic pipelines, the authors identify six large chromosomal inversions segregating in over 100 species of Lake Malawi cichlids. This important study provides compelling evidence for the presence of these six inversions, their differential distribution among populations, and the association of chromosome 10 inversion with a sex-determination locus. This work also provides a starting point for further investigating the role of these inversions with respect to local adaptation, speciation, sex determination, hybridization, and ILS in cichlids, which represent ~5% of the extant vertebrate species and are one of the most prominent examples of adaptive radiations.

Reviewed by eLife

Population structure and genetic diversity of the Critically Endangered bowmouth guitarfish (Rhina ancylostomus) in the Northwest Indian Ocean

1. Marja J. Kipperman
2. Rima W. Jabado
3. Alifa Bintha Haque
4. Daniel Fernando
5. P.A.D.L Anjani
6. Julia L.Y. Spaet
7. Emily Humble

Reviewed by Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology

Upstream open reading frames buffer translational variability during Drosophila evolution and development

1. Yuanqiang Sun
2. Yuange Duan
3. Peixiang Gao
4. Chenlu Liu
5. Kaichun Jin
6. Shengqian Dou
7. Wenxiong Tang
8. Hong Zhang
9. Jian Lu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study reveals the important role of upstream open reading frames (uORFs) in limiting the translational variability of downstream coding sequences. Through a combination of computational simulations, comparative analyses of translation efficiency across different developmental stages in two closely related Drosophila species, and manipulative, experimental validation of translation buffering by an uORF for a gene, the authors provide convincing evidence supporting their conclusions. This work will be of broad interest to molecular biologists and geneticists.

Reviewed by eLife

DateBack, an evolving open-access repository of Phoenix archaeobotanical data supporting new perspectives on the history of date palm cultivation

1. Margot Besseiche
2. Elora Chambraud
3. Vladimir Dabrowski
4. Elisa Brandstatt
5. François Sabot
6. Charlène Bouchaud
7. Muriel Gros-Balthazard

Reviewed by Peer Community in Archaeology

mirror determines the far posterior domain in butterfly wings

1. Martik Chatterjee
2. Xin Yi Yu
3. Noah K Brady
4. Connor Amendola
5. Gabriel C Hatto
6. Robert D Reed

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study provides evidence of a deeply conserved role for the gene Mirror in providing positional identity in the posterior part of butterfly and fly wings, despite increased morphological complexity of butterfly wings. The findings are solid for the field of evo-devo. However, the tools in butterflies are more limited than in Drosophila and it is more difficult to determine which specific cells are mutant and whether the effect of mutation is cell-intrinsic. The work will be of interest to evolutionary and developmental biologists working on insect wing evolution and the evolution of patterning more generally.

Reviewed by eLife