Evolutionary Biology
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Ancient fossil specimens of extinct species are genetically more distant to an outgroup than extant sister species are
There exists a remarkable correlation between genetic distance as measured by protein or DNA dissimilarity and time of species divergence as inferred from fossil records. This observation has prov…
Received 23 July 2008 16:14 UTC; Posted 25 July 2008
Posted to: Bioinformatics, Evolutionary Biology
Fossil evidence for the origin of spider spinnerets
Silk production from opisthosomal glands is a defining characteristic of spiders (Araneae). Silk emerges from spigots (modified setae) borne on spinnerets (modified appendages). Spigots from _Atter…
Received 18 July 2008 04:17 UTC; Posted 21 July 2008
Posted to: Genetics & Genomics, Earth & Environment, Evolutionary Biology
Universal Features in the Genome-level Evolution of Protein Domains
Protein domains are found on genomes with notable statistical distributions, which bear a high degree of similarity. Previous work has shown how these distributions can be accounted for by simple …
Received 11 July 2008 17:49 UTC; Posted 16 July 2008
Posted to: Genetics & Genomics, Bioinformatics, Evolutionary Biology
Two cases of mother-infant cannibalism in orangutans
Two unrelated female orangutans (Pongo abelii) were observed on different occasions cannibalizing the remains of their infants, a behavior never before reported in apes. Both orangutans are free-...
Received 21 June 2008 10:34 UTC; Posted 21 June 2008
Posted to: Earth & Environment, Evolutionary Biology
Population genomics of domestic and wild yeasts
The natural genetics of an organism is determined by the distribution of sequences of its genome. Here we present one- to four-fold, with some deeper, coverage of the genome sequences of over seven…
Received 19 June 2008 10:26 UTC; Posted 20 June 2008
Posted to: Ecology, Genetics & Genomics, Bioinformatics, Evolutionary Biology
An experimental and modelling exploration of the host-sanction hypothesis in legume-rhizobia mutualism
Despite the importance of mutualism as a key ecological process, its persistence in nature is difficult to explain since the existence of exploitative, ‘cheating’ partners that could erode the inte…
Received 10 June 2008 16:23 UTC; Posted 16 June 2008
Posted to: Ecology, Microbiology, Evolutionary Biology
Mitochondrial Molecular Adaptations and Life History Strategies Coevolve in Plants
Messenger RNA secondary structure prevents mutations at functionally important sites. Mutations at exposed sites would cause micro-adaptations, niche-specialization, and therefore, can be thought t…
Received 28 May 2008 09:41 UTC; Posted 29 May 2008
Posted to: Bioinformatics, Plant Biology, Evolutionary Biology
Bio-Communication of Bacteria and its Evolutionary Interrelations to Natural Genome Editing Competences of Viruses
Communicative competences enable bacteria to develop, organise and coordinate rich social life with a great variety of behavioral patterns even in which they organise themselves like multicellular …
Received 13 May 2008 17:11 UTC; Posted 14 May 2008
Posted to: Molecular Cell Biology, Evolutionary Biology
Trichoplax, the simplest known animal, contains an estrogen-related receptor: Implications for the evolution of vertebrate and invertebrate estrogen receptors
Although, as their names imply, vertebrate and invertebrate estrogen receptors [ERs] and estrogen-related receptors [ERRs] are related transcription factors, their evolutionary relationships to eac…
Received 06 May 2008 21:45 UTC; Posted 06 May 2008
Posted to: Developmental Biology, Ecology, Evolutionary Biology
Why are women smaller than men? When anthropology meets evolutionary biology
There are large variations of size among humans but in all populations, men are larger on average than women. For most biologists this fact can be easily explained by the same processes that explai…
Received 25 April 2008 12:31 UTC; Posted 25 April 2008
Posted to: Evolutionary Biology
