Evolution and Genetic Dynamics

Optimal division asymmetry in E. coli bacteria

The paper shows that division asymmetry in E. coli has evolved to an optimum for population growth, with selective forces primarily acting on transcription signal asymmetry variance.

Precise Lineage Tracking Using Molecular Barcodes Demonstrates Fitness Trade-offs for Ivermectin Resistance in Nematodes

This study uses molecular barcoding in C. elegans to measure fitness trade-offs of ivermectin resistance across varying drug concentrations.

Aevol-9: A simulation platform to decipher the evolution of genome architecture

Aevol-9 simulates genome architecture evolution through mutational operators to study how evolutionary conditions affect genome organization.

Genetic and selective constraints on the optimization of gene product diversity

The paper develops a mathematical model to predict isoform abundance distributions across species and genes, finding that factors beyond selection, like population size and cis-acting loci, significantly influence evolutionary outcomes.

Plasmid carriage and the unorthodox use of fitness in microbiology

The paper shows that fitness estimates based on growth rate are unreliable, revealing that plasmid carriage can be selectively advantageous even when it reduces growth rate.

Cell size and selection for stress-induced cell fusion in unicellular eukaryotes

The paper models how cell size and binary cell fusion rate coevolve under different environmental conditions, showing that cell fusion provides a survival advantage during stress.

Recurrent Extinction of Resistance Mutations Leads to Convergent Multidrug Resistance in Sequential Antibiotic Treatment

The paper shows that sequential antibiotic treatment leads to convergent multidrug resistance through extinction of resistance mutations, with single-cell RNA sequencing revealing metabolic and translational state changes.

Drosophila melanogaster pigmentation demonstrates adaptive phenotypic parallelism over multiple timescales

This study shows that Drosophila melanogaster pigmentation adapts rapidly and deterministically to environmental gradients across multiple timescales through distinct genetic components.

Eukaryotes evade information storage-replication rate trade-off with endosymbiont assistance leading to larger genomes

This study develops a theoretical model showing eukaryotes increase genome size through multiple replication origins aided by endosymbionts, while prokaryotes minimize genome size due to single replication origins.

Low-dimensional genotype-fitness mapping across divergent environments suggests a limiting functions model of fitness

The paper uses yeast mutants to show that fitness can be predicted by low-dimensional genotype-phenotype-fitness maps across environments, supporting a limiting functions model of fitness.

Spatial structure facilitates evolutionary rescue by drug resistance

The paper shows spatial structure in bacterial populations increases the probability of evolutionary rescue by antibiotic resistance through enhanced fixation of resistant mutants in small subpopulations.

Unraveling genetic load dynamics during biological invasion: insights from two invasive insect species

The paper examines genetic load dynamics in two invasive insect species, finding mixed evidence for purging of deleterious mutations during invasion.

Gene-by-environment interactions and adaptive body size variation in mice from the Americas

This study investigates how gene-by-environment interactions influence body size variation in mice from the Americas through experimental diet manipulation and genetic crosses.

Resistance variation and bacterial interactions shape the adaptation of a genetically diverse bacterial population to antimicrobial treatment

This study shows that resistance variation and bacterial interactions influence the adaptation of a genetically diverse Pseudomonas aeruginosa population to antibiotic treatment.

Game Changing Mutation

The paper models mutation in sexual reproduction as shifts between Nash equilibria in common interest games, showing mutations can change both the game and the equilibrium.

Purging of highly deleterious alleles through an extreme bottleneck

The paper analyzes genetic diversity in wild and captive-bred populations of the Lord Howe Island stick insect to test if extreme inbreeding following a population bottleneck purges deleterious alleles.

Evolutionary dynamics of nascent multicellular lineages

The paper investigates evolutionary dynamics of multicellular lineages through experiments and a computational pipeline, showing that switching between life cycle phases is crucial for maintaining fitness.

Eco-evolutionary dynamics of pathogen immune-escape: deriving a population-level phylodynamic curve

The paper develops a stochastic framework to model how immunity influences viral adaptation rates, showing how parameters like immunity strength and transmissibility shape phylodynamic curves and escape variant emergence risks.

Archaic introgression and the distribution of shared variation under stabilizing selection

The paper models how stabilizing selection affects introgression patterns around trait loci, showing introgressed-ancestry deserts are enriched around such loci and shared between populations.

Stealth plasmids: rapid evolution of deleted plasmids can displace antibiotic resistance plasmids under selection for horizontal transmission.

The paper shows that plasmids can evolve to lose antibiotic resistance genes, becoming stealthier and more transmissible, leading to AMR extinction in bacterial populations.

Inheritance of somatic mutations can affect fitness in monkeyflowers

The paper investigates the fitness effects of inherited somatic mutations in Mimulus aurantiacus through autogamy and geitonogamy, finding increased fecundity and impacts on drought tolerance, survival, and biomass.

Sex decreases the pleiotropic costs of local adaptation

This study shows that sex helps organisms maintain generalist phenotypes by reducing pleiotropic costs of local adaptation in fluctuating environments.

How developmental constraints shape the evolution of repeated structures

The paper introduces a model linking developmental constraints to the evolution of repeated structures, showing how structural features of gene regulatory networks influence divergence and fitness under selection.

Experimental Removal of Niche Construction Alters the Pace and Mechanisms of Resistance Evolution

This study shows that removing niche construction in red flour beetles slows resistance evolution to a bacterial pathogen, indicating niche construction facilitates adaptation.

Bottlenecks and Resistance Evolution against an Antimicrobial 1 Peptide

The paper investigates how population bottlenecks affect bacterial resistance evolution to antimicrobial peptides in E. coli, finding that mutator strains in large populations develop higher resistance.

Indels allow antiviral proteins to evolve functional novelty inaccessible by missense mutations

The paper shows that indels, not just missense mutations, enable antiviral proteins like TRIM5 to evolve new functions against viruses.

Convergence in amino acid outsourcing between animals and predatory bacteria

The paper compares amino acid outsourcing in animals and predatory bacteria, finding convergence in energy-driven selection for AA auxotrophies in Bdellovibrionota but not in Myxococcota.

Life history evolution facilitates trophic diversification

This study shows that life history evolution interacts with natural selection to promote ecological diversification through feedback mechanisms.

A model of Hill-Robertson interference caused by purifying selection in a non-recombining genome

The paper develops a model to analyze Hill-Robertson interference in non-recombining genomes, showing accurate approximations for mutation frequencies and genetic diversity.

Continuous evolution of gene libraries towards arbitrary functions reveals the versatility of biomolecular evolution in vivo

This study shows that novel gene functions can emerge rapidly in vivo through continuous evolution under various selection pressures.