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EPIGENETIC TRAP. "Inherited epigenetic variation could also be maladaptive, becoming an epigenetic trap. This is because environmental sex determination can alter sex ratios by increasing the survival of one of the sexes at the expense of negative fitness consequences for the other, which could lead not only to the collapse of natural populations, but also have an impact in farmed animal and plant species."" "DOI: 10.1002/bies.201600058 View in LinkedIn

COLLABORATING PARTIES. “Pioneering studies have recently generated insights into interactions occurring within the pathogen-host-microbiome “ménage à trois” but in-depth analyses are necessary to better understand the impact of selective pressures on the interactions between the three players, which can result in the pathogen acquiring new functions by horizontal gene transfer or convergent evolution.” https://lnkd.in/gEfVGaC View in LinkedIn

TIME. "Our results also show that contrasting forces act on the genomes of dioecious plants, and suggest that some time is required before the genome of such plants bears the footprints of dioecy." https://lnkd.in/gRVz_Qd View in LinkedIn

EXTREMOPHYLE SYMBIOSES. “In extreme environments, such as in geothermal soils in Yellowstone National Park, evolution has selected plants that harbor fungal endophytes infected with a virus, and all three partners are required for thermal tolerance of the system.” https://lnkd.in/gEfVGaC View in LinkedIn

NUANCED EXPLANATION. "The traits usually associated with dioecy, that is, an arborescent growth form, abiotic pollination, fleshy fruits or a tropical distribution, do not influence the diversification rate. Rather than a low diversification rate, the observed species richness patterns of dioecious clades seem to be better explained by a low transition rate to dioecy and frequent losses." https://lnkd.in/gGPGHvb View in LinkedIn

DEAD END REFUTED. "Here, we present a new data set that was obtained by searching the phylogenetic literature on more than 600 completely dioecious angiosperm genera and identifying 115 sister clade pairs for which dioecy is likely to be derived (including > 50% of the dioecious species). Applying the new sister clade test to this new dataset, we confirm the preliminary result that dioecy is associated with an increased diversification rate, a result that does not support the idea that dioecy is an evolutionary dead end in angiosperms." https://lnkd.in/gGPGHvb View in LinkedIn

IMPORTANT FOOTNOTE. "Dioecy is associated with higher diversification rates in flowering plants. However, it is crucial for this new test to distinguish between ancestral and derived cases of dioecy, a criterion that was not taken into account in the available data set." https://lnkd.in/gGPGHvb View in LinkedIn

LESS DIVERSIFICATION. "In angiosperms, dioecious clades tend to have fewer species than their nondioecious sister clades. This departure from the expected equal species richness in the standard sister clade test has been interpreted as implying that dioecious clades diversify less and has initiated a series of studies suggesting that dioecy might be an 'evolutionary dead end'." https://lnkd.in/gGPGHvb View in LinkedIn

DEAD END. "Our results are consistent with the view that dioecy is an evolutionary dead end in flowering plants." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jeb.12052/pdf View in LinkedIn

"THESE HANDICAPS should decrease the effective population size of dioecious species, which in turn should reduce the efficacy of selection. Moreover, sexual selection in dioecious species is expected to specifically affect some genes, which will evolve under positive selection." https://lnkd.in/gRVz_Qd View in LinkedIn