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DIATOM UREA CYCLE FUNCTION. "The urea cycle appears to function in the recycling and biosynthesis of organic nitrogen compounds, rather than for their breakdown as in animals. Due to its positioning between the mitochondria and cytoplasm, it is likely to be of special importance for the exchange of nutrients between these two cellular compartments." http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/01/20/jxb.err441.full View in LinkedIn

ALMOST RECKLESS RATE. "RNA viruses mutate at the maximum error rate compatible with maintaining the integrity of genetic information (i.e., the error threshold) because this would allow them to quickly find the beneficial mutations needed for adaptation." Standard hypothesis. https://lnkd.in/e9KGgbm View in LinkedIn

UREA IN DIATOMS? "One of the first surprises to emerge from the sequencing of diatom genomes was the presence of an apparently fully functional urea cycle. Diatoms were, in fact, the first photosynthetic organisms to contain all the genes for such a cycle...Prior to its discovery in diatoms, it was believed to have been a metazoan innovation." http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/01/20/jxb.err441.full View in LinkedIn

HIGH MUTATION RATE. "As a consequence of the lack of proofreading activity of RNA virus polymerases, new viral genetic variants are constantly created. RNA viruses readily adapt to changing environmental conditions. Therefore, the high mutation rate of RNA viruses compared with DNA organisms is responsible for their enormous adaptive capacity." https://lnkd.in/e9KGgbm View in LinkedIn

THREE GENE SOURCES IN DIATOMS. "The evolutionary trajectory of diatoms has brought together a highly unorthodox combination of genes derived by endosymbiotic gene transfer from two secondary endosymbionts to the exosymbiont nucleus, as well as by horizontal gene transfer that permitted numerous additional acquisitions from bacteria and Archaea." http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/01/20/jxb.err441.full View in LinkedIn

VIRAL DIVERSITY IN AIDS. "The HIV-1 genome, which is about 10,000 nucleotides long, can exist as 10(6020) different sequences. To put this number in perspective, there are 10(11) stars in the Milky Way galaxy and 10(80) protons in the universe." Not a typo! https://lnkd.in/eBAK-Ad View in LinkedIn

HGT IN DIATOMS. "These genes were not found in any other photosynthetic eukaryotes (other than other heterokonts), and it is believed that they have provided diatoms with increased flexibility in their regulatory and metabolic networks that may have contributed to their evolutionary success." (HGT = Horizontal Gene Transfer). http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/01/20/jxb.err441.full View in LinkedIn

MUTANT VIRAL SWARMS. "RNA virus populations exist as swarms of mutant genotypes." Extraordinary creatures. https://lnkd.in/e9KGgbm View in LinkedIn

DIATOMS AND HGT. "Besides providing evidence for the ancient secondary endosymbiotic event at the origin of diatoms (and perhaps all chromalveolates), it was found that diatom genomes also contain a large number of genes (587 in P. tricornutum) proposed to be derived from bacteria by horizontal gene transfer." (HGT = Horizontal Gene Transfer). http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/01/20/jxb.err441.full View in LinkedIn

PLANETARY LIFE INVENTORY. "Ms. Landenmark and her colleagues performed an exhaustive review of the number of microbes, plants, animals and fungi found on Earth. They also included viruses, because those agents play an important role in processing DNA and genes." https://lnkd.in/eUq6xFH View in LinkedIn