We identified protein domains in LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor). Their distinctive amino acid usage reveals the order amino acids were added to the genetic code, based mostly on size. Older proteins hint at earlier alternative codes. 1/15 @seekingluca.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Order of amino acid recruitment into the genetic code resolved by last universal common ancestor’s protein domains | PNAS

The current “consensus” order in which amino acids were added to the genetic code is based on potentially biased criteria, such as the absence of s...

pnas.org

We are excited to announce a tenure track faculty position on the genomics of resilience! Come join us in EEB here in Tucson! More details about the position at the link below. Application review begins on December 9! 🧪 arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

🧪 Join us in Tucson! We will begin reviewing applications on December 9 for our tenure track faculty position on the genomics of resilience @uofa-eeb.bsky.social! Apply here: arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

We found high levels of adaptive evolution in genes expressed in barrier tissue immune cells including 🫁, and/or expressed early during immune responses --> host adaptation likely works best when it cuts infections short early, before pathogens reach high numbers. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Adaptation in human immune cells residing in tissues at the frontline of infections - Nature Communications

Immune cells are under evolutionary pressure due to their anti-infective defence role. Here Salvador-Martínez and Murga-Moreno et al. combine population genetics approaches and Human Cell Atlas data, ...

nature.com

If you are looking for a graduate program in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, please considering joining us in Tucson, AZ! Our deadline is December 2 this year for admission to our Fall 2025 cohort. You can find out more about EEB and applying to our program here: eeb.arizona.edu/graduate/pro...

Come join us in Tucson!! I am excited to announce a tenure track faculty position on the genomics of resilience @uofa-eeb.bsky.social! Read more about the position in the updated link below! We will begin reviewing applications on December 9! arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

We are excited to announce a tenure track faculty position on the genomics of resilience! Come join us in EEB here in Tucson! More details about the position at the link below. Application review begins on December 9! 🧪 arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

Hey, my department is now on Bluesky - check out one of the best - and the oldest - EEB departments around bsky.app/profile/uofa...

Symbionts, whether mutualistic or antagonistic, rely on their hosts for survival. In this paper with David Hembry, I show how the distinction between host and symbiont lifestyles could impact diversification through selection for & against phenotypic novelty. doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Outstanding opportunity here! Great department & city surrounded by the incredible Sonoran desert.

If you are looking to do a PhD in the beautiful Sonoran desert, please apply!!! We have an amazing EEB department with a great grad student community!!!

University of Arizona EEB@uofa-eeb.bsky.social · 2y ago

If you are looking for a graduate program in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, please considering joining us in Tucson, AZ! Our deadline is December 2 this year for admission to our Fall 2025 cohort. You can find out more about EEB and applying to our program here: eeb.arizona.edu/graduate/pro...

If you are looking for a graduate program in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, please considering joining us in Tucson, AZ! Our deadline is December 2 this year for admission to our Fall 2025 cohort. You can find out more about EEB and applying to our program here: eeb.arizona.edu/graduate/pro...

The Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona is now on Bluesky! Follow us for posts about department events and news!

🌱 From the upcoming #AJB #Polyploidy special issue 🌱 Species-tree topology impacts the inference of ancient whole-genome duplications across the #angiosperm phylogeny By @pairoflogs.bsky.social, Geoffrey Finch & @barkerms.bsky.social bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #evolution

We will stand a better chance of developing a more predictive science of the #Biosphere if we mix big and small-picture thinking. B Gallagher writing in the Nautilus provides an overview of our recent work in PNAS and makes the case for #ScientificTransculturalism 🧪🦋🦫🌎 nautil.us/the-case-for...

The Case for Scientific Transculturalism

Life will stand a better chance against climate change if we mix big- and small-picture thinking.

nautil.us

Check out our new paper .. some harsh reality for status of code and data sharing … “Code sharing in ecology and evolution increases citation rates but remains uncommon” onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... 🧪🌎🦫🦋

Code sharing in ecology and evolution increases citation rates but remains uncommon

Biologists increasingly rely on computer code to collect and analyze their data, reinforcing the importance of published code for transparency, reproducibility, training, and a basis for further work....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

So happy to see this out! Thanks to @barkerms.bsky.social, Yuannian Jiao, and Kelsey Glennon for leading this terrific effort--and thanks to all the authors and reviewers for their contributions!! #Polyploidy #AJB #SocietyJournal

Botanical Society of America@botsocamerica.bsky.social · 2y ago

Not only is it #FossilFriday and #FernFriday — it’s #PolyploidyFriday! Check out the latest #SpecialIssue of #AJB: bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/15372197... And it’s companion in #AppsPlantSci #IAmABotanist #SocietyJournal #PlantJoy

Our new preprint on meiotic drive and genome evolution in vascular plants. This is a hypothesis/idea paper on how differences in meiotic drive in homosporous and heterosporous plants may explain broad differences in their genomes. Written with Sylvia Kinosian! ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...

Check out our new paper - An allometry perspective on crops nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... we review how an #allometry & #scaling perspective on crops gives insights into phenotypic evolution, hybrid vigor, domestication, crop yields & a novel theory for the #GreenRevolution 🧪🌎🌾🦋

An allometry perspective on crops

Understanding trait–trait coordination is essential for successful plant breeding and crop modeling. Notably, plant size drives variation in morphological, physiological, and performance-related trai...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Another grand global mapping adventure - The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪

The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks - Nature Ecology & Evolution

Wood density is an important plant trait. Data from 1.1 million forest inventory plots and 10,703 tree species show a latitudinal gradient in wood density, with temperature and soil moisture explainin...

nature.com

In our latest paper in PNAS, we ask: How can scientific progress be accelerated to meet the urgent challenges of the Anthropocene? We point to significant barriers in forecasting & prediction efforts for the biosphere 🧵👇 🧪🌎🦋 1/n www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #ScienceTwitter #Ecology #Anthropocene

Using biodiversity data? 🌿 BIEN offers a modular workflow for cleaning, standardizing & integrating your data. Open, reproducible & ready for you! Explore biendata.org our BIEN API, & R packages. #BiodiversityScience #OpenData tnrs.biendata.org  gnrs.biendata.org  nsr.biendata.org

biendata.org

Cool new paper from my colleague @djli.bsky.social out today on nitrogen deposition and loss of diversity of nitrogen fixing plants! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Long-term nitrogen deposition reduces the diversity of nitrogen-fixing plants

Anthropogenic nitrogen deposition reduces nitrogen-fixing plant diversity, but nitrogen-fixer losses are context dependent.

science.org

I am at ESA! I would love to talk to students interested in coming to lovely Arizona for work on collective behavior, ant or bee cognition, or similar topics! www.annadornhaus.net

Dornhaus Lab

annadornhaus.net

Wonder why bats host many zoonotic viruses? With @lucievirevolte.bsky.social and @psudmant.bsky.social labs and using 8 new Myotis assemblies, we find that DNA viruses drove most host bat adaptation, contrary to human adaptation dominated by RNA viruses. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Extensive longevity and DNA virus-driven adaptation in nearctic Myotis bats

The rich species diversity of bats encompasses extraordinary adaptations, including extreme longevity and tolerance to infectious disease. While traditional approaches using genetic screens in model o...

biorxiv.org

The Genomic History Inference Strategies Tournament closes on Nov 15! Analyze genomic data with your favorite demographic inference tool, and see if you can discover the true demography of the population to win the contest (and authorship). More info at ghi.st! Please re-skeet.

Our latest paper doi.org/10.7554/eLif... directly measures the "effective population size" that matters to nearly neutral / drift barrier theory, as the degree to which codon bias differs from expectations from GC content. Surprisingly, stronger natural selection -> more disordered proteins 1/

The protein domains of vertebrate species in which selection is more effective have greater intrinsic structural disorder

Proteins evolve more intrinsic structural disorder under more effective selection, with selection assessed via a novel metric of codon adaptation.

doi.org

For #FernFriday here's a short thread about a recent preprint from the lab. In this study led by Zheng Li with Sylvia Kinosian and Shing Zhan, we examined the hypotheses for the evolution of high chromosome numbers among homosporous ferns. We analyzed a broad collection of genomic data and 1/n

Ancient polyploidy and low rate of chromosome loss explain the high chromosome numbers of homosporous ferns

A longstanding question in plant evolution is why ferns have many more chromosomes than angiosperms. The leading hypothesis proposes that ferns have ancient polyploidy without chromosome loss or gene ...

biorxiv.org

Our new preprint changes the way we look at an “extinction vortex” in which a small population loses fitness, causing it to become even smaller. doi.org/10.1101/2024... @wmawass.bsky.social @uliseshmc.bsky.social 1/n

Extinction vortices are driven more by a shortage of beneficial mutations than by deleterious mutation accumulation

Natural populations are increasingly at risk of extinction due to climate change and habitat loss and fragmentation. The long-term viability of small populations can be threatened by an extinction vor...

doi.org