M. Okuno

Mitochondrial DNA and 641kb nuclear-mitochondrial DNA in Arabidopsis can be separated by their CpG methylation levels

The paper separates mitochondrial and NUMT DNA in Arabidopsis by CpG methylation levels, showing mitochondrial DNA has minimal methylation.

HlyF, an underestimated virulence factor of uropathogenic Escherichia coli

The paper identifies HlyF as a virulence factor in UPEC strains associated with severe UTIs and urosepsis, showing its link to plasmid-mediated virulence and antimicrobial resistance.

Evolutionary history of sexual differentiation mechanism in insects

The paper investigates the evolutionary history of the doublesex gene in insects, finding it initially promoted male differentiation but later acquired female-specific functions in holometabolan species.

Evolutionary origin of sex differentiation system in insects

The paper investigates the evolutionary origin of insect sex differentiation systems by analyzing the ancestral function of doublesex in Thermobia domestica, revealing functional discordance between phenotypic and transcriptional levels.

Polyandry and paternity affect disease resistance in eusocial wasps - support for the pathogen parasite hypothesis

The paper tests the parasite-pathogen hypothesis in eusocial wasps by showing differential disease resistance among workers of different patrilines.

Repeated inversions at the pannier intron drive diversification of intraspecific colour patterns of ladybird beetles

The paper identifies pannier as a key regulatory gene for color pattern variation in ladybird beetles and shows that inversions and cis-regulatory changes at this gene drive intraspecific diversity.