Population-Specific Selection on Standing Variation Generated by Lateral Gene Transfers in a Grass.

Evidence of eukaryote-to-eukaryote lateral gene transfer (LGT) has accumulated in recent years [1-14], but the selective pressures governing the evolutionary fate of these genes within recipient species remain largely unexplored [15, 16]. Among non-parasitic plants, successful LGT has been reported between different grass species [5, 8, 11, 16-19]. Here, we use the grass Alloteropsis semialata, a species that possesses multigene LGT fragments that were acquired recently from distantly related grass species [5, 11, 16], to test the hypothesis that the successful LGT conferred an advantage and were thus rapidly swept into the recipient species.

C anatomy can evolve via a single developmental change.

C photosynthesis is a complex trait that boosts productivity in warm environments. Paradoxically, it evolved independently in numerous plant lineages, despite requiring specialised leaf anatomy. The anatomical modifications underlying C evolution have previously been evaluated through interspecific comparisons, which capture numerous changes besides those needed for C functionality.

Development of an innovative and "green" stir bar sorptive extraction-thermal desorption-gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for quantification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in marine biota.

There is a growing awareness of the need to reduce the negative impact of chemical analyses on the environment and to develop new eco-friendly and sustainable analytical methods without compromising performance. In this study, we developed a "green" analytical method enabling the accurate and simultaneous routine analysis of 21 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in reduced quantities (100mg and 1g wet weight (WW)) of marine biota samples (fish muscle, mussel and oyster tissues) using alkaline digestion combined with stir bar sorptive extraction-thermal desorption-gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (SBSE-GC-MS/MS). The innovative method provides good selectivity and specificity for most compounds.