Sea level rise and the evolution of aggression on islands.

Why aggressive traits evolve in some species but not in others is poorly understood. We modeled the population dynamics of the extinct Mauritius dodo and Rodrigues solitaire to examine divergent pathways in the evolution of aggression. Whereas the dodo conformed to island syndrome predictions of tameness, its sister-taxon the solitaire evolved strong sexual dimorphism and aggressive traits.

Multiple ethnic origins of mitochondrial DNA lineages for the population of Mauritius.

This article reports on the first genetic assessment of the contemporary Mauritian population. Small island nodes such as Mauritius played a critical role in historic globalization processes and revealing high-resolution details of labour sourcing is crucial in order to better understand early-modern diaspora events. Mauritius is a particularly interesting case given detailed historic accounts attesting to European (Dutch, French and British), African and Asian points of origin.

Comment on "Protein sequences from mastodon and Tyrannosaurus rex revealed by mass spectrometry".

We used authentication tests developed for ancient DNA to evaluate claims by Asara et al. (Reports, 13 April 2007, p. 280) of collagen peptide sequences recovered from mastodon and Tyrannosaurus rex fossils.

Activation of protein phosphatase-2A1 by HIV-1 Vpr cell death causing peptide in intact CD(4+) T cells and in vitro.

HIV-1, the etiologic agent of human AIDS, causes cell death in host and non-host cells via HIV-1 Vpr, one of its auxiliary gene product. HIV-1 Vpr can also cause cell cycle arrest in several cell types. The cellular processes that link HIV-1 Vpr to the cell death machinery are not well characterized.