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REPEATED PHENOTYPES. "When two species occupy comparable trophic niches, similar phenotypes can be generated via analogous evolutionary responses. As a consequence, repeated phenotypes have long been treated as evidence for adaptation at the macroevolutionary scale." https://lnkd.in/e9J2Hrx View in LinkedIn

PATHOGEN HIJACKING HOST. "In total, more than 70 Bc-sRNAs have been identified to be potential effectors based on plant expression and target gene prediction in both Arabidopsis and tomato hosts, for which three sRNA effectors have been demonstrated experimentally to silence host plant immunity genes by hijacking host RNAi machinery." (sRNA = small/microRNA). https://lnkd.in/evpzgrd View in LinkedIn

COLLATERAL GENETIC EVOLUTION. "The evolution of phenotypic similarities between species, known as convergence, illustrates that populations can respond predictably to ecological challenges. Convergence often results from similar genetic changes, which can emerge in two ways: the evolution of similar or identical mutations in independent lineages, which is termed parallel evolution; and the evolution in independent lineages of alleles that are shared among populations, which I call collateral genetic evolution." https://lnkd.in/eGUY59p View in LinkedIn

PATHOGEN MICRO-RNA EFFECTORS. "Recent evidence has also demonstrated the important roles of pathogen-derived sRNAs in host–microbe interaction. This is the first report of pathogen sRNAs acting as effectors to inhibit host immunity." https://lnkd.in/evpzgrd View in LinkedIn

CONTINUUM. "We thus argue that the distinction between ‘convergent’ and ‘parallel’ evolution is a false dichotomy, at best representing ends of a continuum. We can simplify our vocabulary; all instances of the independent evolution of a given phenotype can be described with a single term – convergent." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016953470700287X View in LinkedIn

MICRO-RNA. "Recent evidence supports the significant contribution of sRNAs and RNAi to the communication between hosts and some eukaryotic pathogens, pests, parasites, or symbiotic microorganisms. Mobile silencing signals — most likely sRNAs — are capable of translocating from the host to its interacting organism, and vice versa." (sRNA = microRNA; RNAi = RNA interference). https://lnkd.in/eFt2nSy View in LinkedIn

UNPREDICTABLE OR CONSTRAINED? "The question about whether evolution is unpredictable and stochastic or intermittently constrained along predictable pathways is the subject of a fundamental debate in biology, in which understanding convergent evolution plays a central role. At the molecular level, documented examples of convergence are rare and limited to occurring within specific taxonomic groups." https://lnkd.in/e8bgnWm View in LinkedIn

NOT PREDICTABLE? "Several examples show that the same phenotype might evolve among populations within a species by changes in different genes. Conversely, similar phenotypes might evolve in distantly related species by changes in the same gene." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016953470700287X View in LinkedIn

CONVERGENT VS PARALLEL EVOLUTION. "Biologists often distinguish ‘convergent’ from ‘parallel’ evolution. This distinction usually assumes that when a given phenotype evolves, the underlying genetic mechanisms are different in distantly related species (convergent) but similar in closely related species (parallel)." https://lnkd.in/eWhKvHV View in LinkedIn

WIDESPREAD CONVERGENCE. "Adaptive phenotypic convergence is widespread in nature, and recent results from several genes have suggested that this phenomenon is powerful enough to also drive recurrent evolution at the sequence level." https://lnkd.in/epGtvrz View in LinkedIn