This Week in Evolution

TWiEVO 35: Strawberry sex chromosomes forever

September 21, 2018

Nels and Vincent reveal that female-specific DNA associated with sex in strawberries has repeatedly changed its genomic location, possibly linking new genes with sex.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Jumping sex genes in strawberries (PLoS Biol) 5:17, 36:29
Red Queen by Matt Ridley 17:11
Image credit
Letters read on TWiEVO 35 1:02:03

Science Picks 1:19:52

Nels – New snailfish and Cloned crayfish
Vincent – A PhD Lab Coat Ceremony

Listener Picks

Steve – Diversity in simple blobs
Justin – On Growth and Form by D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson (free)

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TWiEVO 34: You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s PON

August 16, 2018

Nels and Vincent discuss how the loss of an enzyme in marine mammals millions of years ago now makes them at risk for neurotoxicity caused by human-made organophosphorous pesticides.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Ancient losses of paraoxonase I (Science) 5:52, 15:49
Big Yellow Taxi (YouTube) 1:00:04
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Letters read on TWiEVO 34 1:03:47

Hey farmer farmer put away the chlor-pyri-fus
I don’t care about spots on my apples
Leave me the manatee and walruses

Science Picks 1:13:56

Nels – New dinosaur discovered in Utah
Vincent – The Song of the Dodo by David Quammen

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TWiEVO 33: Fly by virus

July 24, 2018

Nels and Vincent at ASV 2018

Nels and Vincent are astounded by the finding of an insect-derived virus in a fungus that manipulates the behavior of flies.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Virus in fungus in fly (bioRxiv) 9:13, 28:40
On a leaf, no one can hear you scream (TWiV 443) 26:18
Nels gives Benzer Lecture (YouTube) 27:27
Domestication of fungal fly pathogen (bioRxiv) 28:52
Sequencing E. muscae genome (10X genomics) 34:02, 37:20
Eisen’s twitter stream on new iflavirus (Twitter) 38:09

Science Picks 1:09:26

Nels – Mindsuckers; getting photos; Anand Varma photos
Vincent – Happy Birthday Gregor Mendel

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TWiEVO 32: Never not neutral

June 19, 2018

Matt joins Nels and Vincent to discuss the neutral theory of evolution and its rejection in light of genome-scale data.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Guest: Matt Hahn

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Hahn Lab 1:24, 4:04
Molecular Population Genetics by Matt Hahn 14:02
Neutral theory in light of natural selection (Mol Biol Evol) 17:54
Neutral Sequence Fallacy (Assembly of Fragments) 24:45
Splendor and misery of adaptation (BMC Biol) 34:55
Image credit 38:23
Letters read on TWiEVO 32 1:02:40

Science Picks 1:10:35

Nels – Inaugural Transposon Day
Vincent – How many human genes?

Listener Pick

Anne – Plants repeatedly lose ability to obtain nitrogen

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TWiEVO 31: Virus archaeology, or when the human genome is the junk

May 19, 2018

Bronze age dwelling (image credit)

Nels and Vincent present ancient hepatitis B virus genome sequences from Bronze Age to Medieval period human remains.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Ancient hepatitis B virus genomes (Nature) 11:55
Even more ancient HBV genomes (bioRxiv) 14:27
Image credit
Letters read on TWiEVO 31 1:06:30

Science Picks 1:16:00

Nels – Sampling whale breath with drones (Preprint)
Vincent – Verge Science

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TWiEVO 30: Driving Miss Maize-y

April 21, 2018

Nels and Vincent reveal how a motor protein in corn causes preferential transmission of chromosomes to egg cells, leading to non-Mendelian inheritance.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Molecular Evolution and the Cell meeting 8:29
Selfish corn chromosomes (Cell) 11:47
Dawe Lab – neocentromeres and meiotic drive 12:40
Image credit
Letters read on TWiEVO 30 1:00:28

Science Picks 1:11:17

Nels – Craypot stinkhorn mushroom (Colus pusilus)
Vincent – Doubts raised over plan to release herpesvirus to wipe out carp

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TWiEVO 29: Evolution on the wing

March 21, 2018

Nels and Vincent discuss the evolution of blood feeding to nonbiting in a mosquito, and evolution of bacterial virulence in the house finch caused by incomplete host immunity.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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Molecular Evolution and the Cell meeting 4:59
Mosquito evolution from blood feeding to nonbiting (PNAS) 7:00
Mosquito blood feeding is not a free lunch (virology blog) 19:56
Incomplete immunity and evolution of virulence (Science) 22:59
Image credit
Letters read on TWiEVO 29 1:08:28

Science Picks 1:33:08

Nels – IDEA and Impossible Foods
Vincent – it is NOT junk

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TWiEVO 28: Genetics of skin pigmentation in Africa

February 27, 2018

Sarah Tishkoff joins Nels and Vincent to explain work from her laboratory on the genetic basis of skin pigmentation in Africans.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

Guest: Sarah Tishkoff

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Molecular Evolution and the Cell meeting 1;24
Sarah AMA on Reddit 7:03
Genetics of African skin pigmentation (Science) 24:54
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Science Picks 1:12:01

Nels – In Defense of Plants (Shrew Loo)
Vincent – Contribution of NIH funding to new drug approvals

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TWiEVO 27: Coldevo

January 13, 2018

Taking a cue from the recent frigid weather, Nels and Vincent explore how modifications of a neuronal cold-sensing channel regulate diminished cold sensitivity in hibernating mammals.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello

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