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ROOT FAMILY CHATTER. "Kin recognition by the roots of Cycas edentata was recently demonstrated. Our extensive literature search revealed this to be the first report of kin recognition in any spermatophyte other than angiosperms. Based on this new validation that the phenomenon occurs among phylogenetically diverse taxa, we conclude that kin recognition by roots may be an ancient phenomenon." https://lnkd.in/gYpA3RF View in LinkedIn

VARIANT DEVELOPMENT. "Parthenogenesis occurs in a wide range of animal taxa and is produced by a variety of different underlying mechanisms. Parthenogenesis was not the ancestral state in the taxa where it occurs; at some point in their evolutionary histories, genetic variants must have arisen that (1) allowed impaternate development of embryos, and (2) were favored by existing ecological or demographic factors." http://www.g3journal.org/content/3/4/757.full View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues from last weekend on the theme of plant kin recognition. Here we look at the root and leaf responses of plants to the presence of kin, and at ways plants can game the relationship game to their own advantage. All these studies reinforce the fact that plants are not just plastic cut-outs, but sophisticated sentient beings. View in LinkedIn

VIRGIN BIRTH IN FRUIT FLIES. "Of 40 Drosophila species screened to date, a majority have shown some ability to at least initiate parthenogenetic development. In one case, Drosophila mangebeirai, natural populations are entirely female, making it the only obligate parthenogenetic species of Drosophila. Only a few of the species that exhibit the ability to undergo early embryonic development of unfertilized eggs successfully respond to selection for parthenogenetic production of adult flies." https://lnkd.in/gPUGWFf View in LinkedIn

HAPOID CELL LINES. "In vertebrates, the first haploid cell lines were obtained more than 40 years ago from frogs. Despite this, the availability of isolated vertebrate haploid cell lines is limited. Mammalian (especially human) haploid cell lines are of particular interest, because genetic screening in mammalian cells is directly applicable to medicinal and pharmacological research." https://lnkd.in/gHK6Jfp View in LinkedIn

VIRGIN BIRTH OF FEMALES. "While male-producing parthenogenesis is rare, female-producing parthenogenesis is widespread among animals and mostly obligate, with many documented cases in species-rich invertebrate groups such as insects, nematodes and crustaceans, and with only few examples in vertebrates." https://lnkd.in/gvZ8CFZ View in LinkedIn

"IN DIPLOID CELLS, heterozygous mutations often lead to no phenotypic changes because a functional allele on a second chromosome set can mask the effects of the disruption of the same allele on the first chromosome set." http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/16/10/23604/htm View in LinkedIn

AUTOMICTIC. "Thus, automictic parthenogenesis is the mechanism underlying the occasional production of sons and daughters well known for many species of bagworm moths and recently described in some reptile species, including Komodo dragons and snakes." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982215007824 View in LinkedIn

"PLOIDY refers to the number of sets of chromosomes in a cell. Diploid, meaning two chromosome sets, is the most common ploidy in animals. Diploid animals generally produce haploid gametes: for example, a mouse (M. musculus) has two genome sets (2n = 40) in somatic cells, and generates haploid (n = 20) sperm and oocytes. However, these haploid cells are generally limited in their life cycle." https://lnkd.in/gHK6Jfp View in LinkedIn

WHY SO PREVALENT. "We therefore suggest that constraints, resulting in an inability to overcome the changes in reproduction associated with the evolution of meiosis, should again be included in the debate over why sex is so prevalent." https://lnkd.in/gGTTSzx View in LinkedIn