Functional Effects of a Retained Ancestral Polymorphism in Prestin
Molecular basis for mammalian echolocation has been receiving much concerns. Recent findings on the parallel evolution of prestin sequences among echolocating bats and toothed whales suggest that adaptations for high-frequency hearing have occurred during the evolution of echolocation. Here, we report that although the species tree for echolocating bats emitting echolocation calls with frequency modulated (FM) sweeps is paraphyletic, prestin exhibits similar functional changes between FM bats. Site-directed mutagenesis shows that the amino acid 308S in FM bats is responsible for the similar functional changes of prestin. W...
Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution - January 3, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Li, Y.-Y., Liu, Z., Qi, F.-Y., Zhou, X., Shi, P. Tags: Discoveries Source Type: research
Talpid Mole Phylogeny Unites Shrew Moles and Illuminates Overlooked Cryptic Species Diversity
The mammalian family Talpidae (moles, shrew moles, desmans) is characterized by diverse ecomorphologies associated with terrestrial, semi-aquatic, semi-fossorial, fossorial, and aquatic-fossorial lifestyles. Prominent specializations involved with these different lifestyles, and the transitions between them, pose outstanding questions regarding the evolutionary history within the family, not only for living but also for fossil taxa. Here, we investigate the phylogenetic relationships, divergence times, and biogeographic history of the family using 19 nuclear and 2 mitochondrial genes (~16 kb) from ~60% of described species...
Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution - January 3, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: He, K., Shinohara, A., Helgen, K. M., Springer, M. S., Jiang, X.-L., Campbell, K. L. Tags: Discoveries Source Type: research
Insights from the Shell Proteome: Biomineralization to Adaptation
In this study, the shell matrix proteins (SMPs) of four highly divergent bivalves (The Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas; the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis; the clam, Mya truncata, and the king scallop, Pecten maximus) were analyzed in an identical fashion using proteomics pipeline. This enabled us to identify the critical elements of a "basic tool kit" for calcification processes, which were conserved across the taxa irrespective of the shell morphology and arrangement of the crystal surfaces. In addition, protein domains controlling the crystal layers specific to aragonite and calcite were also identified. Intriguingly, a ...
Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution - January 3, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Arivalagan, J., Yarra, T., Marie, B., Sleight, V. A., Duvernois-Berthet, E., Clark, M. S., Marie, A., Berland, S. Tags: Discoveries Source Type: research
Rapid Functional and Sequence Differentiation of a Tandemly Repeated Species-Specific Multigene Family in Drosophila
Gene clusters of recently duplicated genes are hotbeds for evolutionary change. However, our understanding of how mutational mechanisms and evolutionary forces shape the structural and functional evolution of these clusters is hindered by the high sequence identity among the copies, which typically results in their inaccurate representation in genome assemblies. The presumed testis-specific, chimeric gene Sdic originated, and tandemly expanded in Drosophila melanogaster, contributing to increased male-male competition. Using various types of massively parallel sequencing data, we studied the organization, sequence evolutio...
Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution - January 3, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Clifton, B. D., Librado, P., Yeh, S.-D., Solares, E. S., Real, D. A., Jayasekera, S. U., Zhang, W., Shi, M., Park, R. V., Magie, R. D., Ma, H.-C., Xia, X.-Q., Marco, A., Rozas, J., Ranz, J. M. Tags: Discoveries Source Type: research
Fast and Accurate Estimates of Divergence Times from Big Data
Ongoing advances in sequencing technology have led to an explosive expansion in the molecular data available for building increasingly larger and more comprehensive timetrees. However, Bayesian relaxed-clock approaches frequently used to infer these timetrees impose a large computational burden and discourage critical assessment of the robustness of inferred times to model assumptions, influence of calibrations, and selection of optimal data subsets. We analyzed eight large, recently published, empirical datasets to compare time estimates produced by RelTime (a non-Bayesian method) with those reported by using Bayesian app...
Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution - January 3, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Mello, B., Tao, Q., Tamura, K., Kumar, S. Tags: Fast Track Source Type: research
Genetic Bases of Fungal White Rot Wood Decay Predicted by Phylogenomic Analysis of Correlated Gene-Phenotype Evolution
Fungal decomposition of plant cell walls (PCW) is a complex process that has diverse industrial applications and huge impacts on the carbon cycle. White rot (WR) is a powerful mode of PCW decay in which lignin and carbohydrates are both degraded. Mechanistic studies of decay coupled with comparative genomic analyses have provided clues to the enzymatic components of WR systems and their evolutionary origins, but the complete suite of genes necessary for WR remains undetermined. Here, we use phylogenomic comparative methods, which we validate through simulations, to identify shifts in gene family diversification rates that ...
Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution - January 3, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Nagy, L. G., Riley, R., Bergmann, P. J., Krizsan, K., Martin, F. M., Grigoriev, I. V., Cullen, D., Hibbett, D. S. Tags: Fast Track Source Type: research
The Genomes of Two Bat Species with Long Constant Frequency Echolocation Calls
Bats can perceive the world by using a wide range of sensory systems, and some of the systems have become highly specialized, such as auditory sensory perception. Among bat species, the Old World leaf-nosed bats and horseshoe bats (rhinolophoid bats) possess the most sophisticated echolocation systems. Here, we reported the whole-genome sequencing and de novo assembles of two rhinolophoid bats—the great leaf-nosed bat (Hipposideros armiger) and the Chinese rufous horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus sinicus). Comparative genomic analyses revealed the adaptation of auditory sensory perception in the rhinolophoid bat lineages, p...
Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution - January 3, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Dong, D., Lei, M., Hua, P., Pan, Y.-H., Mu, S., Zheng, G., Pang, E., Lin, K., Zhang, S. Tags: Fast Track Source Type: research
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(Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution)
Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution - January 3, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Tags: Cover / standing material Source Type: research
Transmission between Archaic and Modern Human Ancestors during the Evolution of the Oncogenic Human Papillomavirus 16
Every human suffers through life a number of papillomaviruses (PVs) infections, most of them asymptomatic. A notable exception are persistent infections by Human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16), the most oncogenic infectious agent for humans and responsible for most infection-driven anogenital cancers. Oncogenic potential is not homogeneous among HPV16 lineages, and genetic variation within HPV16 exhibits some geographic structure. However, an in-depth analysis of the HPV16 evolutionary history was still wanting. We have analyzed extant HPV16 diversity and compared the evolutionary and phylogeographical patterns of humans and of...
Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution - January 3, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Pimenoff, V. N., de Oliveira, C. M., Bravo, I. G. Tags: Fast Track Source Type: research
SMBE Editors and Council
(Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution)
Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution - January 3, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Tags: Cover / standing material Source Type: research
Associate Editors
(Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution)
Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution - January 3, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Tags: Cover / standing material Source Type: research
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(Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution)
Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution - January 3, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Tags: Cover / standing material Source Type: research
MBE Citation Classics (2017 Edition)
(Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution)
Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution - January 3, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Kumar, S. Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
A Report by the Editor-in-Chief for MBE, Volume 32
(Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution)
Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution - November 6, 2016 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Kumar, S. Tags: Society Reports Source Type: research
Ancient DNA Traces Extinct Caribbean "Island Murderer" Back to the Dawn of Mammals
(Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution)
Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution - November 6, 2016 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Caspermeyer, J. Tags: News Source Type: research
