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TWO REMODELING MECHANISMS. "It has been demonstrated that larval organs in holometabolous insects degenerate mainly through apoptosis and autophagy." https://lnkd.in/eED2fPx View in LinkedIn

COMPLETE DEGENERATION. "Metamorphosis represents a critical phase in the development of holometabolous insects, during which the larval body is completely reorganized: in fact, most of the larval organs undergo remodeling or completely degenerate before the final structure of the adult insect is rebuilt." https://lnkd.in/eED2fPx View in LinkedIn

SONG OF DARWIN. "The more I study nature, the more I become impressed […] that the contrivances and beautiful adaptations [acquired through natural selection] transcend in an incomparable degree [those] which the most fertile imagination of the most imaginative man could suggest with unlimited time at his disposal." https://lnkd.in/eykUy37 View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues for the second weekend on the subject of insect metamorphosis. Genetic triggers launch a series of biochemical methods to digest the cells in the chrysalis and then remodel the ingredients without waste into new cells with new forms and functions, all the while permitting this soup of a creature to continue to breathe and stay alive. The how does not exceed the why in this iconic and mysterious transition. View in LinkedIn

"The Living Planet Index reveals that global populations of fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles declined by 58 per cent between 1970 and 2012" View in LinkedIn

Antarctic sea becomes world's largest marine protected area View in LinkedIn

TWO SPACES. "It is likely that the proliferation of trans-splicing triggered the spatial segregation of RNA processing (the nucleoplasm) from the translation machinery (the cytoplasm). This subdivision ensured that mRNAs were properly spliced before they encountered the translation machinery." http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004351 View in LinkedIn

"MANY OPERONS contain genes whose products are known to function together. This presumably provides co-regulation of these proteins by producing a single RNA that encodes both." (An operon is a functioning unit of genomic DNA containing a cluster of genes under the control of a single promoter). https://lnkd.in/eAE72Gm View in LinkedIn

PARADIGM CHALLENGED. "Our study suggests that the long-accepted paradigm that JHs maintain the juvenile status throughout larval life should be revised because the larval status can be maintained by a JH-independent mechanism in very early larval instars. We propose that the lack of competence for metamorphosis during the early larval stages may result from the absence of an unidentified broad-inducing factor, i.e., a competence factor." (JH = juvenile hormones). https://lnkd.in/eQ2nAQi View in LinkedIn

PROLIFERATION OF START SITES. "The segregation of translation from both transcription and RNA processing...in turn permitted intergenic DNA and cryptic transcriptional start sites to proliferate with minimal cost to the fitness of the organism." http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004351 View in LinkedIn