From Bayes to Darwin: Evolutionary search as an exaptation from sampling-based Bayesian inference.

Building on the algorithmic equivalence between finite population replicator dynamics and particle filtering based approximation of Bayesian inference, we design a computational model to demonstrate the emergence of Darwinian evolution over representational units when collectives of units are selected to infer statistics of high-dimensional combinatorial environments. The non-Darwinian starting point is two units undergoing a few cycles of noisy, selection-dependent information transmission, corresponding to a serial (one comparison per cycle), non-cumulative process without heredity. Selection for accurate Bayesian inference at the collective level induces an adaptive path to the emergence of Darwinian evolution within the collectives, capable of maintaining and iteratively improving upon complex combinatorial information.

Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific burden of diarrhoeal diseases, their risk factors, and aetiologies, 1990-2021, for 204 countries and territories: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.

Background: Diarrhoeal diseases claim more than 1 million lives annually and are a leading cause of death in children younger than 5 years. Comprehensive global estimates of the diarrhoeal disease burden for specific age groups of children younger than 5 years are scarce, and the burden in children older than 5 years and in adults is also understudied. We used results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2021 to assess the burden of, and trends in, diarrhoeal diseases overall and attributable to 13 pathogens, as well as the contributions of associated risk factors, in children and adults in 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2021.

Eco-geomorphic modelling response of tidal marshes to sea level rise and changes in suspended sediment supply.

Tidal marshes are coastal systems that provide valuable ecosystem services, highlighting coastal protection and carbon burial. For centuries, these dynamic ecosystems have kept pace with sea level rise through organic and mineral matter accumulation. In the current situation of accelerated sea-level rise and changes in suspended sediment concentrations, the evolution of these systems has gained special attention across scientific fields.

Functional traits and adaptation of lake microbiomes on the Tibetan Plateau.

Background: Tibetan Plateau is credited as the "Third Pole" after the Arctic and the Antarctic, and lakes there represent a pristine habitat ideal for studying microbial processes under climate change.

Results: Here, we collected 169 samples from 54 lakes including those from the central Tibetan region that was underrepresented previously, grouped them to freshwater, brackish, and saline lakes, and generated a genome atlas of the Tibetan Plateau Lake Microbiome. This genomic atlas comprises 8271 metagenome-assembled genomes featured by having significant phylogenetic and functional novelty.

Identification of diversity-generating retroelements in host-associated and environmental genomes: prevalence, diversity, and roles.

Background: The diversity-generating retroelements (DGRs) are a family of genetic elements that can produce mutations in target genes often related to ligand-binding functions, which possess a C-type lectin (CLec) domain that tolerates massive variations. They were first identified in viruses, then in bacteria and archaea from human-associated and environmental genomes. This DGR mechanism represents a fast adaptation of organisms to ever- changing environments.

Age-associated changes in transcriptional elongation and their effects on homeostasis.

Cellular homeostasis declines with age due to the declining fidelity of biosynthetic processes and the accumulation of molecular damage. Yet, it remains largely elusive how individual processes are affected during aging and what their specific contribution to age-related functional decline is. This review discusses a series of recent publications that has shown that transcription elongation is compromised during aging due to increasing DNA damage, stalling of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII), erroneous transcription initiation in gene bodies, and accelerated RNAPII elongation.

Dynamic formation of melanoidins and parallel competitive pathways during sludge thermal hydrolysis affected by heating temperature.

The melanoidins formed through the Maillard reaction during thermal hydrolysis pretreatment (THP) of sludge contribute to darkening, refractoriness, and inhibition of effective wastewater and sludge treatment. However, the dynamic production and structural evolution of THP-derived melanoidins are not fully understood. This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing melanoidins production and the associated mechanisms during THP.

Is the air-breathing organ a significant route for CO excretion during aquatic hypercapnia in the pirarucu, Arapaima gigas?

The pirarucu is one of the very few obligate air-breathing fish, employing a gigantic, highly vascularized air-breathing organ (ABO). Traditionally, the ABO is thought to serve mainly for O uptake (ṀO), with the gills providing the major route for excretion of CO (ṀCO) and N-waste. However, under aquatic hypercapnia, a common occurrence in its natural environment, branchial ṀCO to the water may become impaired.

Evolution of Gas Desorption Hysteresis in Coal under Negative-Pressure Condition: Attenuation Mechanism and an Intuitive Index.

Quantifying the extent of desorption hysteresis is essential for establishing gas flow models. However, existing indices fail to adequately represent the changes in the actively mobile gas volume involved in transport, and experiments on the degree of hysteresis in negative-pressure environments are scarce. Therefore, this study conducted isothermal adsorption and desorption tests under both atmospheric- and negative-pressure conditions.

Microbiome composition and turnover in the face of complex lifecycles and bottlenecks: insights through the study of dung beetles.

Unlabelled: Microbiome composition and function often change throughout a host's life cycle, reflecting shifts in the ecological niche of the host. The mechanisms that establish these relationships are therefore important dimensions of host ecology and evolution; yet, their nature remains poorly understood. Here, we sought to investigate the microbial communities associated with the complex life cycle of the dung beetle and the relative contributions of host life stage, sex, and environment in determining microbiome assembly.

Norm reinforcement, not conformity or environmental factors, is predicted to sustain cultural variation.

The maintenance of cross-cultural variation and arbitrary traditions in human populations is a key question in cultural evolution. Conformist transmission, the tendency to follow the majority, was previously considered central to this phenomenon. However, recent theory indicates that cognitive biases can greatly reduce its ability to maintain traditions.

Length-mass relationships of pond macroinvertebrates do not hold between Southern and Northern Europe.

The lack of reliable data on length-mass relationships, essential to obtain accurate biomass estimates, limits our ability to easily assess secondary production by aquatic invertebrates. In the absence of published equations from similar habitat conditions, authors often borrow equations developed in geographic regions with different climate conditions, which may bias biomass estimates. A literature overview of published size-mass relationships for Portugal and Sweden highlights the need for further data within these biogeographic regions.

Agency as an Inherent Property of Living Organisms.

A central characteristic of living organisms is their agency, that is, their intrinsic activity, both in terms of their basic life processes and their behavior in the environment. This aspect is currently a subject of debate and this article provides an overview of some of the relevant publications on this topic. We develop the argument that agency is immanent in living organisms.

Genome assembly of a nocturnal butterfly (Macrosoma leucophasiata) reveals convergent adaptation of visual genes.

Nearly all animals exhibit a preferred period of daily activity (diel-niche), strongly influenced by the light environment. Vision is a sensory system that is strongly adapted to light, and evolutionary transitions to novel light environments can impose strong constraints on eye evolution, color, and motion vision. While the genetic and neural basis of visual adaptation are well-studied in a few model systems, our understanding across the tree of life remains incomplete.

Environmental sex reversal in parrotfish does not cause differences in the structure of their gut microbial communities.

Parrotfish are a common fish in coral reef areas, but little is known about their gut microbial communities. In addition, parrotfish are capable of sex reversal, usually some males are sexually reversed from females, and it is still not known whether this sex reversal leads to significant changes in gut microbial communities. In this study, we investigated the gut microbial communities of three species of parrotfish including Scarus forsteni (4 females and 4 sex-reversed males), Scarus ghobban (5 females and 5 sex-reversed males), and Hipposcarus longiceps (5 females and 5 sex-reversed males) by using high-throughput sequencing technology.

Microbiome selection and evolution within wild and domesticated plants.

Microbes are ubiquitously found across plant surfaces and even within their cells, forming the plant microbiome. Many of these microbes contribute to the functioning of the host and consequently affect its fitness. Therefore, in many contexts, including microbiome effects enables a better understanding of the phenotype of the plant rather than considering the genome alone.

[Genome-wide identification and expression pattern analysis of Eucommia ulmoides Trihelix gene family].

Trihelix transcription factors play important roles in plant light responses, growth and development, and stress responses. However, Trihelix has not yet been reported in Eucommia ulmoides. In this study, bioinformatics methods were used to comprehensively identify and analyze the expression patterns of the Trihelix gene family in E.

Cancer memory as a mechanism to establish malignancy.

Cancers during oncogenic progression hold information in epigenetic memory which allows flexible encoding of malignant phenotypes and more rapid reaction to the environment when compared to purely mutation-based clonal evolution mechanisms. Cancer memory describes a proposed mechanism by which complex information such as metastasis phenotypes, therapy resistance and interaction patterns with the tumor environment might be encoded at multiple levels via mechanisms used in memory formation in the brain and immune system (e.g.

A reinforced lunar dynamo recorded by Chang'e-6 farside basalt.

The evolution of the lunar dynamo is essential for deciphering the deep interior structure, thermal history, and surface environment of the Moon. Previous palaeomagnetic investigations on samples returned from the nearside of the Moon have established the general variation of the lunar magnetic field. However, limited spatial and temporal palaeomagnetic constraints leave the evolution of the lunar dynamo ambiguous.

Fine-scale landscape heterogeneity drives microbial community structure at Robinson Ridge, East Antarctica.

Life at Robinson Ridge, located in the Windmill Islands region of East Antarctica, is susceptible to a changing climate. At this site, responses of the vegetation communities and moss-beds have been well researched, but corresponding information for microbial counterparts is still lacking. To bridge this knowledge gap, we established baseline data for monitoring the environmental drivers shaping the soil microbial community on the local 'hillslope' scale.

Ensemble habitat suitability model predicts Suaeda salsa distribution and resilience to extreme climate events.

Climate anomalies lead to an increased occurrence of extreme temperature and drought events in coastal wetlands, resulting in heightened survival pressure on salt marsh plants. It is imperative to anticipate the effects of these events on the habitat suitability and resilience of coastal salt marsh vegetation to inform restoration efforts and management strategies. Herein, an ensemble model was developed to evaluate the recovery of Suaeda Salsa in the two subsequent years following the anomalously high temperatures and decreased precipitation experienced during the summer of 2018, potentially leading to a decline in this species in the eastern coast of Liaohe Estuary wetland (Bohai Sea, China).

Quantifying the global biodiversity of Proterozoic eukaryotes.

The global diversity of Proterozoic eukaryote fossils is poorly quantified despite its fundamental importance to the understanding of macroevolutionary patterns and dynamics on the early Earth. Here we report a new construction of fossil eukaryote diversity from the Paleoproterozoic to early Cambrian based on a comprehensive data compilation and quantitative analyses. The resulting taxonomic richness curve verifies Cryogenian glaciations as a major divide that separates the "Boring Billion" and Ediacaran periods, with the former characterized by a prolonged stasis, and the latter by greater diversity, more-rapid turnover, and multiple radiations and extinctions.

Species diversity in the new lamprey genus Occidentis, formerly classified as western North American 'Lampetra'.

Accurate taxonomy is fundamental to the study and conservation of biodiversity. Because of their morphological similarities, most brook and river lampreys in western North America have been placed in the genus Lampetra along with lampreys from Eurasia and eastern North America. However, molecular-based phylogenetic studies dating back several decades indicate that lampreys from Pacific drainages are genetically distinct from Atlantic Lampetra.