Recombination is disrupted in Brassica allotriploids, which may have helped form rapeseed. New study by Pelé et al. shows extra C chromosomes reshape crossover patterns, with effects differing between B. oleracea and B. napus.
New study by Petroll et al. traces the evolution of epigenetic silencing in plants. PRC2-mediated H3K27me3 marks show deep conservation across green algae and preferentially target land plant genes, revealing ancient, conserved networks of gene repression.
New article by Li & Zhang on adaptive walks in E. coli DHFR gene shows this model has a high chance of reaching top peaks in a multipeak fitness landscape, but this is likely an exception among simulated and empirical fitness landscapes.
Molecular Evolution #MolEvol identified adaptive evolution of #ba286 lineage in August 2023 (reminder: 32 non-synonymous substitutions, including 22 in Spike, and only 11 synonyms) while still at very low frequency. #ba286 has now come to dominate globally 👇
https://ecoevo.social/@firefoxx66@mstdn.science/111964032240034358
Prdm9-directed and Prdm9-independent hotspots co-exist in mammals, a new study by @Julien_JOSEPH @duret_lbbe et al. says #PopGen #MolEvol #MustRead 👇
Attached: 1 image Using this estimator, we can see that recombination rates at loci orthologous to the strong DSB hotspots of a mouse KO for PRDM9 (mouse default hotspots) are quite high in most mammals, and particularly canids who have lost the gene. Of note, the northern elephant seal, the ring-tailed lemur and the Daurian ground squirrel display recombination rates at these loci that are comparable to those of canids. (6/8)
The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the awarding of 400 Starting Grants to young scientists and scholars across Europe. The grants - totalling €628 million - support cutting-edge research in a wide range of fields, from medicine and physics to social sciences and humanities. They will help researchers at the beginning of their careers to launch their own projects, form their teams and pursue their best ideas.
Let's be clearer. New SARS-CoV-2 variant BA.2.86 #ba286 Pirola might not sweep. However, it makes little doubt it went through a kind of adaptive evolution phase given the dN/dS ratio in its branch. #MolEvol
It's been a while we've seen a branch of this size in the phylogeny of SARS-CoV-2. Is this a new hopeful monster? On the face of it, no: only 9 sequences spread across the globe to date, if it sweeps it's hiding its true colours. However, a global sweep cannot be completely ruled out in the current context. #ba286 #MolEvol https://ecoevo.social/@[email protected]/110910547096634806
It's been a while we've seen a branch of this size in the phylogeny of SARS-CoV-2. Is this a new hopeful monster? On the face of it, no: only 9 sequences spread across the globe to date, if it sweeps it's hiding its true colours. However, a global sweep cannot be completely ruled out in the current context. #ba286 #MolEvol
https://ecoevo.social/@firefoxx66@mstdn.science/110910547096634806
Attached: 2 images This new variant is roughly as genetically different in Spike from BA.2 (21L) & XBB.1.5 (23A) as original Omicron was from Wuhan. That number of changes is certainly eye-catching 👀, and scientists are watching this variant very closely. 👩🏻🔬 3/9
Sishuo Wang
Molecular Biology & Evolution
Nicolas Bierne