https://phys.org/biology-news/evolution en-us Phys.org provides the latest news on evolution Although immune responses are generated by a complex, hierarchical arrangement of immune system organs, tissues, and components, the unit of the cell has a particularly large effect on disease progression and host survival. These cell-level defense mechanisms, known as cell-autonomous immunity, are among the most important determinants of human survival, and are millions to billions of years old, inherited from our prokaryotic and single-celled ancestors. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-cell-autonomous-immunity-pathogen-mediated-evolution-humans.html Evolution Cell & Microbiology Fri, 04 Sep 2020 12:42:52 EDT news518442168 A study led by researchers from Tasmania, Chile and Germany has furthered our understanding of plant evolution by tracking the origins of electrical signaling components that plants developed to communicate and adapt to life on land. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-cells-tracking-evolution-electrical.html Plants & Animals Evolution Thu, 03 Sep 2020 12:25:03 EDT news518354699 The ability for humans to digest milk as adults has altered our dietary habits and societies for centuries. But when and how that ability—known as lactase persistence or lactose tolerance—occurred and became established is up for debate. By testing the genetic material from the bones of people who died during a Bronze Age battle around 1,200 BC, an international team of scientists including Krishna Veeramah, Ph.D., of Stony Brook University, suggest that lactase persistence spread throughout Central Europe in only a few thousand years, an extremely fast transformation compared to most evolutionary changes seen in humans. Their findings are published in Current Biology. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-reveals-lactose-tolerance-quickly-europe.html Evolution Other Thu, 03 Sep 2020 11:00:06 EDT news518334771 Researchers from McGill University have revealed the steps by which two very distinct organisms—bacteria and carpenter ants—have come to depend on one another for survival to become a single complex life form. The study, published today in Nature, shows that the two species have collaborated to radically alter the development of the ant embryo to allow this integration to happen. Understanding how such grand unifications originate and evolve is a major puzzle for biologists. Ehab Abouheif, a biologist and senior author on the paper believes that these insights may lead to a better understanding of the origin of complex organisms. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-complex-life-revealed.html Evolution Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 02 Sep 2020 11:00:04 EDT news518246180 Viruses are often thought of as a human problem, however they are the most abundant biological entities on the planet. There are millions of viruses in every teaspoon of river, lake or seawater, they are found everywhere there is life and probably infect all living organisms. Most are completely harmless to humans and infect microscopic animals, plants and bacteria, which they hijack and reprogram to produce new virus particles, most often destroying these cells in the process. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-viruses-glaciers-highlight-evolutionary-mechanism.html Evolution Cell & Microbiology Wed, 02 Sep 2020 10:19:46 EDT news518260782 So far, the majority of studies investigating brain functions and intelligence have been carried out either on humans or animals that are known to be most similar to humans, such as monkeys, apes, and other mammals. Nonetheless, some avian species, including corvids and parrots, also have sophisticated and surprising cognitive skills, which are sometimes comparable to those of large-brained mammals. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-evolution-complex-cognition-birds.html Plants & Animals Evolution Wed, 02 Sep 2020 09:30:02 EDT news518251202 In the early 1900s, brown trout and rainbow trout were introduced to southern South America for recreational fishing and early aquaculture initiatives. About 40 years later, American beaver were introduced in the same region to develop a felt industry. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-beavers-growth-brown-trout-south.html Evolution Ecology Wed, 02 Sep 2020 07:47:31 EDT news518251648 Human societies developed food preferences based on a blend of what was available and what the group decided it liked most. Those predilections were then passed along as part of the set of socially learned behaviors, values, knowledge, and customs that make up culture. Besides humans, many other social animals are believed to exhibit forms of culture in various ways, too. https://phys.org/news/2020-09-differing-diets-bonobo-groups-insights.html Plants & Animals Evolution Tue, 01 Sep 2020 16:14:04 EDT news518195639 In a study published in PNAS, researchers used conservation biology and genomics to discover that the New Guinea singing dog, thought to be extinct for 50 years, still thrives. Scientists found that the ancestral dog population still stealthily wanders in the Highlands of New Guinea. This finding opens new doors for protecting a remarkable creature that can teach biologists about human vocal learning. The New Guinea singing dog can also be utilized as a valuable and unique animal model for studying how human vocal disorders arise and finding potential treatment opportunities. The study was performed by researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health, Cenderawasih University in Indonesia, and other academic centers. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-discovery-ancient-dog-species-human.html Plants & Animals Evolution Mon, 31 Aug 2020 15:00:02 EDT news518074157 Scientists have estimated for the first time how nature-based solutions for agricultural pest control deliver US$14.6 to US$19.5 billion annually across 23 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-pesticide-free-crop-yields-billionyear-benefits.html Evolution Ecology Mon, 31 Aug 2020 11:00:03 EDT news518078276 The northern quoll, one of Australia's most adorable and endangered native carnivores, appears to be adapted to dramatically different landscapes—which may be key to the species' survival. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-northern-quoll-amazingly-versatile-survivor.html Evolution Ecology Fri, 28 Aug 2020 07:45:52 EDT news517819548 Genes from a tiny shrimp-like crustacean could help in the search for the origin of insect wings, a new study finds. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-wings-crustacean-insect.html Evolution Ecology Thu, 27 Aug 2020 09:18:54 EDT news517738732 Certain plant species can evolve very quickly under drought conditions. This means that the modified plant traits are genetically fixed and passed on to the next generation. A research team led by Professor Katja Tielbörger from the Institute of Evolution and Ecology, together with other colleagues from the University of Tübingen and the Universities of Hildesheim, Münster and Cologne, has shown this in a new study. However, the plants in the experiment were not able to quickly adapt all important traits to the lack of water. The study has been published in the journal Ecology Letters. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-rapid-evolution-climate.html Evolution Ecology Thu, 27 Aug 2020 09:16:41 EDT news517738598 In a study published in the Journal of Morphology, a team of researchers from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Florida Museum of Natural History, Louisiana State University and Thailand's Maejo University have successfully pieced together the ancestral relationships that make up the family tree of hillstream loaches (Balitoridae), detailing for the first time a range of unusual pelvic adaptations across the family that have given some of its members an ability to crawl, or even walk as salamanders do, to navigate terrestrial surfaces. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-asia-hillstream-loaches-reveals-keys.html Evolution Ecology Wed, 26 Aug 2020 14:56:29 EDT news517672582 An international team of researchers has discovered a new group of Chlamydiae—Anoxychlamydiales—living under the ocean floor without oxygen. These Chlamydiae have genes that allow them to survive without oxygen while making hydrogen gas. The researchers found that our single-cell ancestors 'caught' these hydrogen-producing genes from ancient Chlamydiae up to two-billion years ago—an event that was critical for the evolution of all complex life alive today. The results are published in Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-genes-chlamydiae-complex-life-oxygen.html Evolution Cell & Microbiology Wed, 26 Aug 2020 14:00:10 EDT news517662549 Animals use social information for a variety of reasons, including identifying new foraging areas or of threats from predators. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-ties-naturally-disease-social-evolution.html Evolution Ecology Wed, 26 Aug 2020 10:35:07 EDT news517656904 Researchers from Linköping University suggest a process by which the timid junglefowl from the rain forest could have become today's domesticated chicken. When the scientists selectively bred the junglefowl with least fear of humans for 10 generations, the offspring acquired smaller brains and found it easier to become accustomed to frightening but non-hazardous events. The results shed new light over how domestication may have changed animals so much in a relatively short time. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-domesticated-chickens-smaller-brains.html Plants & Animals Evolution Wed, 26 Aug 2020 08:30:04 EDT news517648988 Flowering plants abide by the concept, "the more the merrier," with respect to their genomes. In their base state, they are diploids with two genome copies, one from each parent. Having three or more genome copies from additional parents or duplication, also known as "polyploidy," is common among flowering plants; at least once during their evolution, the genomes of flowering plants multiply. Over time, plants lose many genes after such events, returning their genomes to a diploid state while retaining multiple copies of some genes. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-brachypodium-polyploid-genome-evolution.html Evolution Cell & Microbiology Wed, 26 Aug 2020 08:22:15 EDT news517648932 Precipitation patterns, along with temperature, dictate where tropical forests are distributed around the world. Surprisingly, though, scientists know very little about the direct effects of rainfall on tropical animals. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-temperature-tropical-animals.html Evolution Ecology Tue, 25 Aug 2020 09:36:38 EDT news517566989 Once in a while, over the history of life, a new trait evolves that leads to an explosion of diversity in a group of organisms. Take wings, for instance. Every group of animals that evolved them has spun off into a host of different species—birds, bats, insects and pterosaurs. Scientists call these "key innovations." https://phys.org/news/2020-08-biologists-gene-critical-columbines-iconic.html Evolution Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 24 Aug 2020 15:00:07 EDT news517483605 The evolution of limbs with functional digits from fish fins happened approximately 400 million years ago in the Devonian. This morphological transition allowed vertebrates to leave the water to conquer land and gave rise to all four-legged animals or tetrapods—the evolutionary lineage that includes all amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals (including humans). Since the nineteenth century several theories based on both fossils and embryos have been put forward trying to explain how this transformation unfolded. Yet, exactly how hands with digits originated from fish fins remained unknown. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-lungfish-fins-reveal-limbs-evolved.html Plants & Animals Evolution Wed, 19 Aug 2020 14:00:04 EDT news517048366 Researchers, who remotely videotaped a generation of wild chimpanzees learning to use tools, gain insights into how technology came to define human culture. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-termite-fishing-chimpanzees-clues-evolution-technology.html Plants & Animals Evolution Wed, 19 Aug 2020 12:26:31 EDT news517058780 Achieving pregnancy has been shown to be more likely between partners who carry dissimilar human leucocyte antigen (HLA) immune genes. Accordingly, humans are expected to choose HLA dissimilar reproductive partners. Earlier studies have demonstrated that HLA dissimilarity preferences are mediated either by body odors or facial preferences. However, it has been unclear whether HLA-based mating preferences could occur after sexual intercourse in the female reproductive tract. Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland have now shown that the women's reproductive tract is capable of mediating post-mating sexual selection (known as the "cryptic female choice") toward the sperm of HLA-dissimilar men. This indicates that the ultimate mating bias toward genetically compatible partners occurs only after mating, at the gamete level. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-partner-ultimately-woman-reproductive-tract.html Evolution Wed, 19 Aug 2020 08:23:21 EDT news517044196 The thylacine, that famous extinct Australian icon colloquially known as the Tasmanian Tiger, is revealed to have been only about half as big as once thought—not a "big" bad wolf after all. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-tasmanian-tigers-resizing-australian-icon.html Plants & Animals Evolution Wed, 19 Aug 2020 04:04:57 EDT news517028691 The mystery of why zebras have their characteristic stripes has perplexed researchers for over a century. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-zebra-stripes-role-dazzling-flies.html Plants & Animals Evolution Tue, 18 Aug 2020 19:00:01 EDT news516962141 From emus to woodpeckers, modern birds show remarkable diversity in skull shape and size, often hypothesized to be the result of a sudden hastening of evolution following the mass extinction that killed their non-avian dinosaur cousins at the end of the Cretaceous 66 million years ago. But this is not the case according to a study by Ryan Nicholas Felice at University College London, publishing August 18, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology. In the most detailed study yet of bird skull morphology, Felice and an international team of researchers show that the rate of evolution actually slowed in birds compared to non-avian dinosaurs. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-bird-skull-evolution-extinction-dinosaurs.html Evolution Tue, 18 Aug 2020 14:00:03 EDT news516962008 Organisms need to work together to adapt to climate change, especially in the presence of competitors, suggests a new study published today in eLife. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-species-competition-cooperation-vulnerability-climate.html Evolution Ecology Tue, 18 Aug 2020 12:23:44 EDT news516972220 Bacteria that invade animal cells in order to multiply are widespread in nature. Some of these are pathogens of humans and animals. In the environment, they are often found inside unicellular organisms. A research team led by Matthias Horn at the Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science at the University of Vienna has made use of laboratory experiments to gain a better understanding of how these bacteria adapt to their host cell over time and become increasingly infectious under certain conditions. This is due to changes in the genome and in gene expression, particularly in genes that control the interaction of the bacteria with their hosts and those responsible for bacterial metabolism. The study has been published in PNAS. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-evolution-real-time-bacteria-hosts.html Evolution Cell & Microbiology Tue, 18 Aug 2020 09:39:12 EDT news516962347 It can be hard to dispute the common adage 'survival of the fittest.' After all, "most of the genes in the genome are there because they're doing something good," says Sarah Zanders, Ph.D., assistant investigator at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. But, she says, "others are just there because they've figured out a way to be there." https://phys.org/news/2020-08-survival-fit-ish.html Evolution Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 17 Aug 2020 12:37:38 EDT news516886653 Does urbanization drive bumblebee evolution? A new study by Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig provides an initial indication of this. According to the study, bumblebees are larger in cities and, therefore, more productive than their rural counterparts. In Evolutionary Applications, the research team reports that differences in body size may be caused by the increasingly fragmented habitats in cities. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-city-life-bumblebees-larger.html Plants & Animals Evolution Mon, 17 Aug 2020 10:58:32 EDT news516880708