Year: 2022

INTRONS AND MICRO-RNA. "Introns as catalysts for de novo miRNA family origination in mammals. A detailed analysis revealed that 36%–65% of miRNA genes are overlapping with introns of protein-coding genes in the different species, although annotated introns only constitute ∼22%–45% of the entire genome. Introns may represent a natural place for the miRNA de novo formation." https://lnkd.in/dDg9xVY View in LinkedIn

TRANS-VARIANTS. "Heritability studies suggest that more than half of the genetically explained variance in gene expression is due to trans-acting variants." https://lnkd.in/dFv6Tsi View in LinkedIn

VARIED EXPRESSION. "Posttranscriptional mechanisms notwithstanding, the available body of work suggests that variation in steady-state gene expression levels can disproportionately be explained by variation in TF binding." (TF = transcription factor). https://lnkd.in/dFv6Tsi View in LinkedIn

SELECTIVE PRESSURES. "Variation in TF binding might underlie concerted changes in a large number of supporting regulatory mechanisms that determine chromatin state and accessibility. These inferences, based on functional genomic variation data, are consistent with independently observed evidence of strong selective pressures on TF binding motifs, second only to the conservation of protein-coding genes." (TF = transcription factor). https://lnkd.in/dFv6Tsi View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues from last weekend on the theme of viruses. The most successful lifestyle for viruses is that of benign long-term cohabitation with the host, rather than pathenogenicity, which tends to have a boom-and-bust profile. What is deeply intriguing is that these creatures have become integral to vast populations of genomes, and have become integral for their host evolution. Are they the ghost in the machine, the hidden hand behind the wheel? Increasingly, it is hard to think otherwise. 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." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982214003881 View in LinkedIn

TYPES OF HORIZONTALITY. "In nature, horizontal evolution can occur through species hybridization in eukaryotes, lateral gene transfer in bacteria, recombination and reassortment in viruses, viral integration in eukaryotes, and fusion of genomes of symbiotic species (e.g., mitochondria). These horizontal genetic exchanges create incompatibilities that mischaracterize the species tree." http://www.pnas.org/content/110/46/18566.full View in LinkedIn

NEW PERSPECTIVE. "We show that whereas clonal evolution can be summarized as a tree, reticulate evolution exhibits nontrivial topology of dimension greater than zero. Our method effectively characterizes clonal evolution, reassortment, and recombination in RNA viruses." http://www.pnas.org/content/110/46/18566.full View in LinkedIn

VERTICAL DISEASES. "The unveiled structure is equivalent to a tree in cases where only vertical genetic exchange takes place, as can be seen in single-segment analysis of influenza A, dengue, West Nile virus, and rabies." http://www.pnas.org/content/110/46/18566.full View in LinkedIn

BOOM AND BUST. "When individuals compete for a common resource natural selection often favours more aggressive exploitation strategies. This may lead to resource exhaustion and, consequently, to population extinction, a process known as the 'tragedy of the commons'." https://lnkd.in/dvcWSUt View in LinkedIn