We recently reported a positive association between female promiscuity and genetic diversity across passerine birds, and launched the hypothesis that female promiscuity acts as a balancing selection, pressure maintaining genetic diversity in populations (Gohli et al.2013). Spurgin (2013) questions both our analyses and interpretations. While we agree that the hypothesis needs more comprehensive empirical testing, we find his specific points of criticism unjustified. In a more general perspective, we call for a more explicit recognition of female mating preferences as mechanisms of selection in population genetics theory.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/evo.12211 | DOI Listing |
Mol Biol Evol
January 2025
School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.
When introduced to multiple distinct ranges, invasive species provide a compelling natural experiment for understanding the repeatability of adaptation. Ambrosia artemisiifolia is an invasive, noxious weed, and chief cause of hay fever. Leveraging over 400 whole-genome sequences spanning the native-range in North America and 2 invasions in Europe and Australia, we inferred demographically distinct invasion histories on each continent.
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January 2025
Institute of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, University of Münster, Corrensstr. 48, 48149, Muenster, Germany.
Primary carnitine deficiency (PCD) is a rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder caused by missense mutations in the SLC22A5 gene encoding the organic carnitine transporter novel type 2 (OCTN2). This study investigates the structural consequences of PCD-causing mutations, focusing on the N32S variant. Using an alpha-fold model, molecular dynamics simulations reveal altered interactions and dynamics suggesting potential mechanistic changes in carnitine transport.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant Divers
November 2024
CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, Yunnan, PR China.
Genome skimming has dramatically extended DNA barcoding from short DNA fragments to next generation barcodes in plants. However, conserved DNA barcoding markers, including complete plastid genome and nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) sequences, are inadequate for accurate species identification. Skmer, a recently proposed approach that estimates genetic distances among species based on unassembled genome skims, has been proposed to effectively improve species discrimination rate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant Divers
November 2024
Germplasm Bank of Wild Species & Yunnan Key Laboratory of Crop Wild Relatives Omics, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China.
The angiosperm family Elaeagnaceae comprises three genera and . 100 species distributed mainly in Eurasia and North America. Little family-wide phylogenetic and biogeographic research on Elaeagnaceae has been conducted, limiting the application and preservation of natural genetic resources.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Virus Erad
December 2024
HIV Pathogenesis Programme, The Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for almost 70 % of people living with HIV (PLWH) worldwide, with the greatest numbers centred in South Africa where 98 % of infections are caused by subtype C (HIV-1C). However, HIV-1 subtype B (HIV-1B), prevalent in Europe and North America, has been the focus of most cure research and testing despite making up only 12 % of HIV-1 infections globally. Development of latency models for non-subtype B viruses is a necessary step to address this disproportionate focus.
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