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DIFFUSE EFFECT. "Although further tests are needed, it is likely that selection following whole-genome duplication is important in all types of species interaction and that there are circumstances in which polyploidy can enhance the evolvability of interactions with other species." https://lnkd.in/bCmw3Fr View in LinkedIn

UNUSUAL SEX LIFE. "The morphology of angiosperm sex organs (flowers), rather than fitting those of the opposite sex, must generate a lock-and-key fit with the animals that visit them. These visitors do not normally come for sex; instead they are paid for their services, typically by means of sugary nectar or surplus pollen. Plants advertise these rewards with showy displays to assist pollinators in finding them." https://lnkd.in/e97k43F View in LinkedIn

COLLATERAL EFFECTS. "From the scarce evidence available, we found that novel interactions are rare but that polyploidy can induce changes in pollinator, herbivore, and pathogen interactions." https://lnkd.in/bCmw3Fr View in LinkedIn

DARWIN'S EULOGY. "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

Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to British trio for study of exotic matter View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues from last weekend exploring Darwin's "abominable mystery", the rise of flowering plants (angiosperms). There was no way Darwin could have known the full story: genes had not been discovered then. Their extraordinary diversity of their sexual organs (flowers), seed design, and the genetics driving them is fascinating. I touch on a bigger topic, whole genome duplication, that will be taken up in more detail in coming weeks. View in LinkedIn

QUESTION 3. "Does polyploidy lead to greater evolvability in species interactions?" https://lnkd.in/bCmw3Fr View in LinkedIn

LIMITING TRANSPOSABLE ELEMENTS. "They concluded that some lineages might be more successful than others at reducing or preventing proliferation of transposable elements that ultimately contribute to genome size determination in cotton." https://lnkd.in/bCmw3Fr View in LinkedIn

OVERLOOKED. "While the role of genome downsizing following WGD is widely acknowledged, the role of genomic constraints on WGDs has received relatively little attention." (WGD = whole genome duplication). https://lnkd.in/bCmw3Fr View in LinkedIn

"GENOME DOWNSIZING appears to affect the average genome sizes, especially at tetraploid level, but our results emphasize the importance of constraints on genome size or monoploid number." https://lnkd.in/bCmw3Fr View in LinkedIn