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AGAINST THE ODDS. "It has been shown that TEs can spread within and among genomes even in the face of a selective cost to the host." (TE = transposable elements). https://lnkd.in/dwuaM5f View in LinkedIn

“THE SELFISH DNA concept of TEs focuses on the parasitic nature of these elements and emphasizes the deleterious effects of transposition as well as the negligible evolutionary benefit that TEs provide to their hosts.” (TE = transposable elements). https://lnkd.in/dwuaM5f View in LinkedIn

"THE STAGGERING evolutionary success of TEs in eukaryotes is often attributed to their ability to out replicate the host genomes in which they reside, as opposed to any selective advantage that they might provide to their hosts." (TE = transposable elements). https://lnkd.in/dwuaM5f View in LinkedIn

WORTH THE PRICE. “It has been shown that TEs can spread within and among genomes even in the face of a selective cost to the host.” (TE = transposable elements). https://lnkd.in/dwuaM5f View in LinkedIn

DOMINANT PURIFYING SELECTION. "We show that purifying selection against TEs is the dominant force throughout the evolutionary history of Nematoda, as indicated by reconstructed ancestral TE loads, and that strong stochastic Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes are the underlying models which best explain TE diversification among extant species." (TE = transposable elements). https://lnkd.in/drMDPh6 View in LinkedIn

“THE STAGGERING evolutionary success of TEs in eukaryotes is often attributed to their ability to out replicate the host genomes in which they reside, as opposed to any selective advantage that they might provide to their hosts.” (TE = transposable elements). https://lnkd.in/dwuaM5f View in LinkedIn

HYGIENIC GROOMING. "The bodies of fungal-killed aphids were quickly removed from ant-tended aphid colonies. Ant workers were also able to detect infective conidia on the cuticle of living aphids and responded by either removing or grooming these aphids." http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2009/11/16/rsbl.2009.0743.short View in LinkedIn

WINTER CARETAKING. "Although most ant–aphid trophobiotic associations are facultative, some ant species bring aphids or even aphid eggs into their nests in winter, ensuring the continuity of the relationship." https://lnkd.in/d9truvs View in LinkedIn

CONTROLLING THE HERD. "We believe that ants could use the tranquillising chemicals in their footprints to maintain a populous 'farm' of aphids close their colony, to provide honeydew on tap. Ants have even been known to occasionally eat some of the aphids themselves, so subduing them in this way is obviously a great way to keep renewable honeydew and prey easily available." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071009212548.htm View in LinkedIn

HOBBLING THE COWS. "The ants have been known to bite the wings off the aphids in order to stop them from getting away and depriving the ants of one of their staple foods: the sugar-rich sticky honeydew which is excreted by aphids when they eat plants. Chemicals produced in the glands of ants can also sabotage the growth of aphid wings." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071009212548.htm View in LinkedIn