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FOLDS AND DISTANT FAMILIES. "By analyzing protein sequences we were able to identify EFs shared by seemingly unrelated protein superfamilies and folds and to unravel evolutionary relations between them. Binding and metabolic processing of the metal- and nucleotide-containing cofactors and ligands are among the most abundant ancient EFs that became indispensable in many natural enzymes." (EFs = elementary functions). https://lnkd.in/dwbv2VX View in LinkedIn

EMERGENCE OF NEW GENES. "The emerging picture across different species is that de novo genes emerge at high rates." https://lnkd.in/d4n2asc View in LinkedIn

MANY FROM THE FEW. "The diversity of contemporary enzymes can be described via combinations of a limited number of elementary chemical reactions, many of which are performed by the descendants of primitive prebiotic peptides/proteins." A very familiar theme. https://lnkd.in/dwbv2VX View in LinkedIn

VIRAL CONTRIBUTION. "Parasitic genetic elements can provide benefits to the host by protecting the host from superinfection, but also through exaptation of genetic material of the selfish elements for host functions." https://lnkd.in/dwWBEqU View in LinkedIn

FIRST FUNCTIONS. "We looked back into the very onset of the protein evolution with a goal to find elementary functions (EFs) that came from the prebiotic world and served as building blocks of the first enzymes. We defined the basic structural and functional units of biochemical reactions—elementary functional loops." https://lnkd.in/dwbv2VX View in LinkedIn

MOBILE GENETIC ELEMENTS. "Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are abundant in mammalian genomes and contain sequences modulating transcription. The impact of ERV propagation on the evolution of gene regulation remains poorly understood. We found that ERVs have shaped the evolution of a transcriptional network underlying the interferon (IFN) response, a major branch of innate immunity, and that lineage-specific ERVs have dispersed numerous IFN-inducible enhancers independently in diverse mammalian genomes." https://lnkd.in/dn8M8m8 View in LinkedIn

SHARED PHYSIOLOGIES. "​In the early 20th century, findings that microbes inherited through the eggs of insects caused morphological changes with no apparent pathogenic effects on their host further suggested how organisms living in close proximity shared their respective physiologies."​ https://lnkd.in/ddVyNR5 View in LinkedIn

NEW VIEW. "Yet, far removed from this classical conception, a small but growing body of evidence accumulated, which reveals that this physiological division of labor could also be accomplished by different species living together, as exemplified by the discoveries, in the latter 19th century, of the duality of lichens, of fungi living in the roots of orchids and forest trees, of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in root nodules of legumes, and of algae living inside the cells of translucent cnidarians."​ https://lnkd.in/ddVyNR5 View in LinkedIn

OLD VIEW. "​In the post-Darwinian era, this individualistic view of the organism extended to the organization of the cell, as well as projected onto the organism formed by intercellular relations. Accordingly, all complex organization resulted from the struggle for existence, providing an ever-increasing integration through a division of labor. A common assumption underlays this classical conception, namely, that each organism is derived from one germplasm, the zygote."​ https://lnkd.in/ddVyNR5 View in LinkedIn

ORGAN SOCIETIES. "Complexity of animal organization is accompanied by the increasing division of labor among organs, a concept derived from Adam Smith's conception that socioeconomic progress in complex societies results from the division of labor."​ https://lnkd.in/ddVyNR5 View in LinkedIn