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Malin is an E3-ubiquitin ligase that is mutated in Lafora disease, a fatal form of progressive myoclonus epilepsy. In order to perform its function, malin forms a functional complex with laforin, a glucan phos...
Biologists studying adaptation under sexual selection have spent considerable effort assessing the relative importance of two groups of models, which hinge on the idea that females gain indirect benefits via m...
Metacrangonyctidae (Amphipoda, Crustacea) is an enigmatic continental subterranean water family of marine origin (thalassoid). One of the species in the genus, Metacrangonyx longipes, is endemic to the Balearic i...
RNA viruses evolve extremely quickly, allowing them to rapidly adapt to new environmental conditions. Viral pathogens, such as influenza virus, exploit this capacity for evolutionary change to persist within t...
tRNase Z removes the 3'-trailer sequences from precursor tRNAs, which is an essential step preceding the addition of the CCA sequence. tRNase Z exists in the short (tRNase ZS) and long (tRNase ZL) forms. Based on...
In addition to providing phylogenetic relationships, tree making procedures such as parsimony and maximum likelihood can make specific predictions of actual historical sequences. Resurrection of such sequences...
The rate and mode of lineage diversification might be shaped by clade-specific traits. In Madagascar, many groups of organisms are characterized by tiny distribution ranges and small body sizes, and this high ...
Although most taxonomists agree that species are independently evolving metapopulation lineages that should be delimited with several kinds of data, the taxonomic practice in Malagasy primates (Lemuriformes) l...
The glacial-interglacial oscillations caused severe range modifications of biota. Thermophilic species became extinct in the North and survived in southern retreats, e.g. the Mediterranean Basin. These repeate...
Despite phylogeographical patterns being well characterised in a large number of species, and generalised patterns emerging, the carnivores do not all appear to show consistent trends. While some species tend ...
Cortinarius species in section Calochroi display local, clinal and circumboreal patterns of distribution across the Northern Hemisphere where these ectomycorrhizal fungi occur with host trees throughout their geo...
Evidence for historical, demographic and selective factors affecting enzyme evolution can be obtained by examining nucleotide sequence variation in candidate genes such as Lactate dehydrogenase (Ldh). Two closely...
Although their role in cell division is essential, centromeres evolve rapidly in animals, plants and yeasts. Unlike the complex centromeres of plants and aminals, the point centromeres of Saccharomcyes yeasts can...
Studying contemporary hybridization increases our understanding of introgression, adaptation and, ultimately, speciation. The sister species Ischnura elegans and I. graellsii (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) are ecologi...
Ecological specializations such as antipredator defense can reinforce morphological and distributional divergence within hybridizing species. Two hybridizing species of Daphnia (D. galeata and D. dentifera) are d...
Histone variants alter the composition of nucleosomes and play crucial roles in transcription, chromosome segregation, DNA repair, and sperm compaction. Modification of metazoan histone variant lineages occurs...
Animal feeding and spawning migrations may be limited by physical barriers and behavioral interactions. Dam constructions (e.g. hydropower) commonly include gateways for fish migrations to sustain ecological c...
Fungal secondary metabolites have been suggested to function as chemical defenses against insect antagonists, i.e. predators and competitors. Because insects and fungi often compete for dead organic material, ...
Supertree methods combine overlapping input trees into a larger supertree. Here, I consider split-based supertree methods that first extract the split information of the input trees and subsequently combine th...
Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is an economically important animal pathogen that causes contagious pleuropneumonia in pigs. Currently, the molecular evolutionary trajectories for this pathogenic bacterium remain...
Pathogens have represented an important selective force during the adaptation of modern human populations to changing social and other environmental conditions. The evolution of the immune system has therefore...
Fragmentation of terrestrial ecosystems has had detrimental effects on metapopulations of habitat specialists. Maculinea butterflies have been particularly affected because of their specialized lifecycles, requir...
Since the discovery of the Malta fever agent, Brucella melitensis, in the 19th century, six terrestrial mammal-associated Brucella species were recognized over the next century. More recently the number of novel
The role of lateral gene transfer (LGT) in the evolution of microorganisms is only beginning to be understood. While most LGT events occur between closely related individuals, inter-phylum and inter-domain LGT...
Catenin is a gene family composed of three subfamilies; p120, beta and alpha. Beta and p120 are homologous subfamilies based on sequence and structural comparisons, and are members of the armadillo repeat prot...
Monogynous mating systems with extremely low male mating rates have several independent evolutionary origins and are associated with drastic adaptations involving self-sacrifice, one-shot genitalia, genital da...
DNA-based studies have demonstrated that avian genetic mating systems vary widely, with many species deviating from long-assumed monogamy by practicing extra-pair paternity and conspecific brood parasitism. Co...
The decline in amphibian populations across the world is frequently linked to the infection of the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). This is particularly perplexing because Bd was only recently ...
Reproductive isolation (RI) is widely accepted as an important "check point" in the diversification process, since it defines irreversible evolutionary trajectories. Much less consensus exists about the proces...
Domain or gene fusion analysis is a bioinformatics method for detecting gene fusions in one organism by comparing its genome to that of other organisms. The occurrence of gene fusions suggests that the two ori...
Small insertions and deletions ("indels" with size ≦ 100 bp) whose lengths are not multiples of three (non-3n) are strongly constrained and depleted in protein-coding sequences. Such a constraint has never bee...
The mesic habitats of eastern Australia harbour a highly diverse fauna. We examined the impact of climatic oscillations and recognised biogeographic barriers on the evolutionary history of the delicate skink (Lam...
In many species males face a higher predation risk than females because males display elaborate traits that evolved under sexual selection, which may attract not only females but also predators. Females are, t...
The Coral Triangle (CT), bounded by the Philippines, the Malay Peninsula, and New Guinea, is the epicenter of marine biodiversity. Hypotheses that explain the source of this rich biodiversity include 1) the ce...
Monoculture, multi-cropping and wider use of highly resistant cultivars have been proposed as mechanisms to explain the elevated rate of evolution of plant pathogens in agricultural ecosystems. We used a mark-...
Cyanobacteria belong to an ancient group of photosynthetic prokaryotes with pronounced variations in their cellular differentiation strategies, physiological capacities and choice of habitat. Sequencing effort...
The Erythrinidae fish family is characterized by a large variation with respect to diploid chromosome numbers and sex-determining systems among its species, including two multiple X1X2Y sex systems in Hoplias mal...
Several phytoplasmas, wall-less phloem limited plant pathogenic bacteria, have been shown to contain extrachromosomal DNA (EcDNA) molecules encoding a replication associated protein (Rep) similar to that of ge...
Anopheles gambiae mates in flight at particular mating sites over specific landmarks known as swarm markers. The swarms are composed of males; females typically approach a swarm, and leave in copula. This mating ...
Escherichia coli is one of the best studied organisms in all of biology, but its phylogenetic structure has been difficult to resolve with current data and analytical techniques. We analyzed single nucleotide pol...
Researchers conducting molecular phylogenetic studies are frequently faced with the decision of what to do when weak branch support is obtained for key nodes of importance. As one solution, the researcher may ...
Introgressive events (e.g., hybridization, gene flow, horizontal gene transfer) and incomplete lineage sorting of ancestral polymorphisms are a challenge for phylogenetic analyses since different genes may exh...
Coleoid cephalopods (squids and octopuses) have evolved a camera eye, the structure of which is very similar to that found in vertebrates and which is considered a classic example of convergent evolution. Othe...
We characterized variation and chemical composition of epicuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) in the seven species of the Drosophila buzzatii cluster with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Despite the critical role...
Non-pollinating Sycophaginae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) form small communities within Urostigma and Sycomorus fig trees. The species show differences in galling habits and exhibit apterous, winged or dimorphic m...
Freshwater harbors approximately 12,000 fish species accounting for 43% of the diversity of all modern fish. A single ancestral lineage evolved into about two-thirds of this enormous biodiversity (≈ 7900 spp.)...
Ecosystem engineers facilitate habitat formation and enhance biodiversity, but when they become invasive, they present a critical threat to native communities because they can drastically alter the receiving h...
Microhylidae is a geographically widespread family of anurans. Although several extensive molecular analyses have attempted to elucidate their subfamilial relationships, and correlate these with Mesozoic and C...
Pleistocene climate fluctuations have shaped the patterns of genetic diversity observed in many extant species. In montane habitats, species' ranges may have expanded and contracted along an altitudinal gradie...
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