Category: Uncategorized

QUESTION 1. "Does polyploidy directly cause the formation of novel interactions not experienced by diploids, or does it create an opportunity for natural selection to then form novel interactions?" https://lnkd.in/bCmw3Fr View in LinkedIn

GENETIC DRIFT. "We are promoting the idea that the power of random genetic drift imposes a lower bound to the degree to which natural selection can reduce the mutation rate. This drift-barrier hypothesis seems to support a number of previously disconnected observations, including the increase in the mutation rate with reductions in effective population size, the magnified error rates associated with DNA polymerases and repair enzymes used only infrequently in replication, and the extraordinarily high rates of base misincorporation into transcripts." (Michael Lynch). https://lnkd.in/e8G48jD View in LinkedIn

RANGE OF IMPACTS. "Here we reviewed the available evidence for how polyploidy may impact many types of species interactions that range from mutualism to antagonism." https://lnkd.in/bCmw3Fr View in LinkedIn

FITNESS LOAD. "Although mutations provide the ultimate material upon which natural selection depends, most mutations are deleterious, and in certain settings can lead to a substantial fitness load. We are attempting to understand the nearly 1000-fold range of variation in the mutation rate that exists across the Tree of Life, through the study of a diversity of invertebrates and unicellular eukaryotes and prokaryotes." (Michael Lynch). https://lnkd.in/e8G48jD View in LinkedIn

KNOCK-ON EFFECTS OF PLOIDY. "Polyploidy is a common mode of speciation that can have far-reaching consequences for plant ecology and evolution. Because polyploidy can induce an array of phenotypic changes, there can be cascading effects on interactions with other species. These interactions, in turn, can have reciprocal effects on polyploid plants, potentially impacting their establishment and persistence." https://lnkd.in/bCmw3Fr View in LinkedIn

PLANT GENETIC HISTORIES. "Although polyploidy may have experienced a nadir of interest during the latter half of the 20th century, the sequencing and analyses of plant genomes have revealed numerous cycles of polyploidy in the history of nearly all land plants." https://lnkd.in/bCmw3Fr View in LinkedIn

NUMEROUS STARTS. "A unique aspect of polyploidy is that many polyploid species may trace their ancestry to numerous, independent origins." https://lnkd.in/bCmw3Fr View in LinkedIn

Yoshinori Ohsumi wins Nobel prize in medicine for work on autophagy http://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/oct/03/yoshinori-ohsumi-wins-nobel-prize-in-medicine?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other View in LinkedIn

UK common toad numbers down two-thirds in 30 years View in LinkedIn

GENOME DOWNSIZING. "Whole-genome duplications in plants are usually followed by rapid genome downsizing, or fractionation, which could reduce the correlation between genome size mean and ploidy level." https://lnkd.in/bCmw3Fr View in LinkedIn