Irene Julca

Incomplete functional divergence drives genetic synergy during floral development in tomato

This study identifies how incomplete functional divergence of SEPALLATA MADS-box genes drives genetic synergy in tomato floral development through residual redundancy and non-additive expression.

Comparative transcriptomics in ferns reveals key innovations and divergent evolution of secondary cell wall

The paper generates transcriptomic data for 22 fern species to study their evolutionary genetics and cell wall composition, revealing unique gene families and divergent cell wall biochemistry.

Repairing a deleterious domestication variant in a floral regulator gene of tomato by base editing

This study repairs a harmful mutation in a tomato gene using base editing, resulting in plants with compact growth and earlier fruit yield.

Unveiling the Functional Fate of Duplicated Genes Through Expression Profiling and Structural Analysis

This study tests the least diverged orthologue conjecture by analyzing sequence and expression data across multiple species, finding that the least diverged orthologue tends to retain ancestral functions.

The conserved genetic program of male germ cells uncovers ancient regulators of human spermatogenesis

The paper identifies a conserved genetic program in male germ cells across species, revealing 161 new spermatogenesis genes and three potential causes of human infertility.

Removing auto-activators from yeast-two-hybrid assays by conditional negative selection

The paper develops a negative selection method to remove auto-activators from yeast-two-hybrid assays using pGAL2-URA3 and 5-FOA treatment, reducing false-positive hits.

Transposons played a major role in the diversification between the closely related almond (Prunus dulcis) and peach (P. persica) genomes: Results from the almond genome sequence

The paper estimates the almond genome size and assembly, identifies transposable elements (TEs) as key drivers of divergence between almond and peach genomes, and highlights TE insertions affecting gene expression in traits like kernel taste and mesocarp formation.

A clonally reproducing generalist aphid pest colonises diverse host plants by rapid transcriptional plasticity of duplicated gene clusters

This study shows that the green peach aphid uses rapid transcriptional changes of duplicated genes to colonize diverse host plants without genetic specialization.