Month: September 2022

CHEATERS. "The origins of a suicidal program in single‐celled organisms are hard to understand, because the cells that acquired the ability to kill themselves would likely have a disadvantage and the emergence of “cheaters” with mutant genes would impair the maintenance of such a program. However, the emergence of such a process could be explained in the context of an infection." https://celldeath.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/lopezself_munoz.pdf View in LinkedIn

INFLAMMASOMES. "Perhaps the best piece of evidence in favor of an origin of apoptosis in the context of host defense is the fact that apoptosis‐initiating complexes such as the apoptosome and immunity‐activating complexes such as the inflammasomes are very similar to each other." https://celldeath.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/lopezself_munoz.pdf View in LinkedIn

REF FOR TODAY’S POST. Are Internal, Death-Promoting Mechanisms Ever Adaptive?" "John W Pepper, Deborah E Shelton, Armin Rashidi and Pierre M Durand" "Journal of Phylogenetics & Evolutionary Biology View in LinkedIn

DEATH AS A SIDE-EFFECT? "We must ask of unicellular organisms the same question we asked about multicellular organisms: Is death the function of POD, or merely a side effect? Multicellular organisms undergoing POD typically do leave offspring, so active death that is a byproduct of mechanisms “designed” to regulate investment in reproduction is a viable (and often supported) hypothesis for multicellular POD." (POD = programmed organismal death). http://www.esciencecentral.org/journals/are-internal-death-promoting-mechanisms-ever-adaptive-2329-9002.1000113.pdf View in LinkedIn

SELECTION BEYOND THE INDIVIDUAL. "However, unicells undergoing POD do not leave any direct descendants. Thus, in unicells, POD (with the possible exception of autophagy) may involve adaptation through function, and selection, at levels other than the individual organism." (POD = programmed organismal death). http://www.esciencecentral.org/journals/are-internal-death-promoting-mechanisms-ever-adaptive-2329-9002.1000113.pdf View in LinkedIn

SELECTION BEYOND. "There is experimental evidence of benefits at levels other than the organism in bacteria and some eukaryotes, as well as a range of possible functions. Proposals include levels both below (genetic element) and above (group) that of the individual cell." http://www.esciencecentral.org/journals/are-internal-death-promoting-mechanisms-ever-adaptive-2329-9002.1000113.pdf View in LinkedIn

SELECTION FOR GROUP. "There is direct experimental evidence for higher-level benefits associated with POD in unicells. In bacterial species, several studies have compared group-level function in POD-positive versus POD- negative strains." (POD = programmed organismal death). http://www.esciencecentral.org/journals/are-internal-death-promoting-mechanisms-ever-adaptive-2329-9002.1000113.pdf View in LinkedIn

UNICELLULAR FITNESS SELECTION. "These is considerable experimental evidence for fitness advantages from POD to clonal kin groups of cells of species usually considered to be ‘unicellular’. These fitness advantages may represent a significant source of selection pressure." (POD = programmed organismal death). http://www.esciencecentral.org/journals/are-internal-death-promoting-mechanisms-ever-adaptive-2329-9002.1000113.pdf View in LinkedIn

SPARING LIMITED RESOURCES. "As one well-studied example, clonal growth of yeast colonies creates opportunities for strong kin selection and evolution of group-beneficial altruistic traits. PCD could serve at least two altruistic purposes in this context. By dying, a cell may spare nutrient resources for its neighboring kin group." (PCD = programmed cellular death). http://www.esciencecentral.org/journals/are-internal-death-promoting-mechanisms-ever-adaptive-2329-9002.1000113.pdf View in LinkedIn

REF FOR TODAY’S POST. Are Internal, Death-Promoting Mechanisms Ever Adaptive?" "John W Pepper, Deborah E Shelton, Armin Rashidi and Pierre M Durand" "Journal of Phylogenetics & Evolutionary Biology View in LinkedIn