linkedin post 2017-04-01 05:57:01

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ABSOLUTE ADDICTION. "The continuous presence of a vertically transmitted symbiont leads to the evolution of developmental dependence beyond the symbiont’s original contribution; that is, hosts become addicted to their symbionts. In aphids, elimination of Buchnera through antibiotic treatment interferes with development, which typically stalls if Buchnera fails to colonize." https://lnkd.in/dcBwzRs View in LinkedIn
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linkedin post 2017-04-02 05:57:43

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"THE STERILE WOMB PARADIGM is an enduring premise in biology that human infants are born sterile. Recent studies suggest that infants incorporate an initial microbiome before birth and receive copious supplementation of maternal microbes through birth and breastfeeding. Moreover, evidence for microbial maternal transmission is increasingly widespread across animals." https://lnkd.in/ds5gpCY View in LinkedIn
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linkedin post 2017-04-02 05:55:18

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TRADING UP. "Numerous clear examples of an ancient obligate symbiont being joined or replaced by a newer one are evident, including several in the sap-feeding insects of suborder Auchenorrhyncha. A likely driver for adding a new symbiont is the degradation of functions in an ancient one: A new symbiont can replace or supplement functions that are lost or inefficient in the older partner." https://lnkd.in/dcBwzRs View in LinkedIn
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linkedin post 2017-04-02 05:50:53

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ONE WAY STREET. "Once a host lineage has proceeded down the irreversible path into obligate symbiosis, it seems that there is little opportunity to exit. In a few cases, such as the leafhopper subfamily Typhlocybinae, symbionts may have been lost in connection with dietary shifts: e.g., phloem sap to parenchyma. More often, the only escape from degenerate partners seems to be to supplement or replace them with new symbionts." https://lnkd.in/dcBwzRs View in LinkedIn
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linkedin post 2017-04-04 03:58:47

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DIFFERENT HOST HABITATS. "The representation of different genome strategies are dramatically different between prokaryotic and eukaryotic viruses, the foremost distinction being the higher prevalence of DNA viruses in prokaryotes contrasted by the preponderance of RNA viruses in eukaryotes." https://lnkd.in/dHhQ6QH View in LinkedIn
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linkedin post 2017-04-04 03:55:18

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CAVEAT: "the available bacteriophage genomes account for but a tiny slice of the enormous phage diversity, so it is impossible to rule out that direct progenitors of the main groups of eukaryotic viruses are lurking in the unexplored parts of the phage domain." https://lnkd.in/dHhQ6QH View in LinkedIn
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linkedin post 2017-04-06 04:45:06

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UBIQUITOUS INFECTIONS. "A rough calculation reveals that there are many billions of chronic virus infections in humans, with each of the ∼6.75 billion of us harboring ∼8–12 chronic infections. Some of these viruses are so common that one would be hard put to find uninfected control patients for studies to identify viral associations with disease or effects on the “normal” immune system." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867409007831 View in LinkedIn
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