Elevated temperature increases genome-wide selection on de novo mutations.

Adaptation in new environments depends on the amount of genetic variation available for evolution, and the efficacy by which natural selection discriminates among this variation. However, whether some ecological factors reveal more genetic variation, or impose stronger selection pressures than others, is typically not known. Here, we apply the enzyme kinetic theory to show that rising global temperatures are predicted to intensify natural selection throughout the genome by increasing the effects of DNA sequence variation on protein stability.

Experimentally induced intrasexual mating competition and sex-specific evolution in female and male nematodes.

Sexual dimorphism in life history traits and their trade-offs is widespread among sexually reproducing animals and is strongly influenced by the differences in reproductive strategies between the sexes. We investigated how intrasexual competition influenced specific life history traits, important to fitness and their trade-offs in the outcrossing nematode Caenorhabditis remanei. Here, we altered the strength of sex-specific selection through experimental evolution with increased potential for intrasexual competition by skewing the adult sex ratio towards either females or males (1:10 or 10:1) over 30 generations and subsequently measured the phenotypic response to selection in three traits related to fitness: body size, fecundity and tolerance to heat stress.

Repeated evolution of self-compatibility for reproductive assurance.

Sexual reproduction in eukaryotes requires the fusion of two compatible gametes of opposite sexes or mating types. To meet the challenge of finding a mating partner with compatible gametes, evolutionary mechanisms such as hermaphroditism and self-fertilization have repeatedly evolved. Here, by combining the insights from comparative genomics, computer simulations and experimental evolution in fission yeast, we shed light on the conditions promoting separate mating types or self-compatibility by mating-type switching.

Temperature effects on life-history trade-offs, germline maintenance and mutation rate under simulated climate warming.

Mutation has a fundamental influence over evolutionary processes, but how evolutionary processes shape mutation rate remains less clear. In asexual unicellular organism, increased mutation rates have been observed in stressful environments and the reigning paradigm ascribes this increase to selection for evolvability. However, this explanation does not apply in sexually reproducing species, where little is known about how the environment affects mutation rate.

Large-scale gene expression study in the ophiuroid Amphiura filiformis provides insights into evolution of gene regulatory networks.

Background: The evolutionary mechanisms involved in shaping complex gene regulatory networks (GRN) that encode for morphologically similar structures in distantly related animals remain elusive. In this context, echinoderm larval skeletons found in brittle stars and sea urchins provide an ideal system. Here, we characterize for the first time the development of the larval skeleton in the ophiuroid Amphiura filiformis and compare it systematically with its counterpart in sea urchin.