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FORK IN THE ROAD. "Sex chromosomes that show low levels of differentiation are generally considered to be evolutionarily young and only at the initial stages of this path; given time, they too are expected to differentiate." http://www.pnas.org/content/110/16/6453.full View in LinkedIn

FROM SOIL TO CLINIC. “The most recent evidence for the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes between the environment and the clinic is provided by Forsberg et al. (2012). Using an innovating metagenomic approach, the authors identified DNA sequences in cultured multi-drug-resistant soil Proteobacteria which had 100% identity to resistance genes found in clinical pathogens, including resistance against β-lactams, tetracyclines, aminoglycosides, sulfonamides, and chloramphenicol.” https://lnkd.in/gEfVGaC View in LinkedIn

HETEROMORPHIC IDENTITY. "Restriction of recombination across the entire length of the sex chromosomes and continuous gene decay on the Y results in heteromorphism between the X and Y (or Z and W)." http://www.pnas.org/content/110/16/6453.full View in LinkedIn

HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSMISSION. “The spreading of antibiotic resistance genes is another example of the vital importance of the microbial context, as pathogens may be able to acquire resistance phenotypes from environmental reservoirs.” https://lnkd.in/gEfVGaC View in LinkedIn

DIVERGENCE OF THE SEXES. "Loss of recombination between the sex chromosomes allows the proto-X and proto-Y (or proto-Z and proto-W) to evolve independently, and also sets the stage for the population processes causing degeneration of the nonrecombining sex chromosome." http://www.pnas.org/content/110/16/6453.full View in LinkedIn

THE MELIEU MATTERS. “Similarly, the microbiota contribution toward promoting infection and spread of enteric viruses is receiving more attention. In the future, understanding the interaction of the microbiota with pathogens (=pathobiome) and the host might provide new insights into the pathogenesis, as well as novel avenues for preventing and treating intestinal and systemic disorders.” https://lnkd.in/gEfVGaC View in LinkedIn

"REPETITIVE DNA forms a significant proportion of eukaryotic genomes. This is particularly evident in plants, which have faster genome dynamics than animals." https://lnkd.in/gdTbmHn View in LinkedIn

DRIVER AND RESPONDER REQUIRED. "Zygotic drive of the autosomes has been observed in a wide diversity of model organisms (e.g., worms, beetles, and mice). In general, an autosomal zygotic driver must have both a driver allele at one locus and a protective allele at a responder locus." http://cshperspectives.cshlp.org/content/7/3/a017608.full View in LinkedIn

FOOTNOTE. ""Zygotic drive is an unusual form of genetic conflict because it directly reduces Darwinian fitness by killing or debilitating offspring. It is favored by gene-level selection when there is competition among siblings for limiting resources. By killing or weakening noncarrier competitor siblings, the gene(s) coding for zygotic drive gain a selective advantage because their survival is increased at the expense of siblings carrying alleles that are not identical by descent—despite any fitness loss to the parents, siblings, or other parts of the genome." http://cshperspectives.cshlp.org/content/7/3/a017608.full View in LinkedIn

GENOMIC CONFLICT 4: "De novo mutations can also gain a transmission advantage by increasing the rate of stem cell division in the germ line (germline drive)." http://cshperspectives.cshlp.org/content/7/3/a017608.full View in LinkedIn