Category: Uncategorized

INCREASING COMPLEXITY. "The history of life is punctuated by evolutionary transitions which engender emergence of new levels of biological organization that involves selection acting at increasingly complex ensembles of biological entities." https://lnkd.in/dwWBEqU View in LinkedIn

VIRAL PARASITE CONTRIBUTION. "Parasitic genetic elements can provide benefits to the host by protecting the host from superinfection, but also through exaptation of genetic material of the selfish elements for host functions." https://lnkd.in/dwWBEqU View in LinkedIn

UNIFIED STORY. "More generally, by identifying the small number of factors that have driven major transitions, we provide a simpler and more unified description of how life on earth has evolved." http://www.pnas.org/content/112/33/10112.full View in LinkedIn

LOVE-HATE RACE. "In large part, this coevolution takes the form of the incessant arms race during which the cellular hosts evolve multiple, in some cases highly elaborate mechanisms of resistance and defence to which the parasites respond by evolving counter-defence systems. However, cooperation between hosts and parasites complements the arms race." https://lnkd.in/dwWBEqU View in LinkedIn

MINOR FACTORS. "In contrast, we find that other factors have played relatively minor roles at many key points, such as within-group kin discrimination and mechanisms to actively repress competition." http://www.pnas.org/content/112/33/10112.full View in LinkedIn

CO-EVOLUTION IS KEY. "All or nearly all cellular life forms harbour diverse genetic parasites including transposons, plasmids, viruses and other selfish elements. Parasite–host coevolution is a major aspect of all evolution of life." https://lnkd.in/dwWBEqU View in LinkedIn

NEGATIVE REVERSIONS. "Each major transition appears to have involved evolution of mechanisms that control selection at the preceding, lower level of organization. Reversion to the lower level of selection can be deleterious to the higher level, complex entities as obviously illustrated by cancer." https://lnkd.in/dwWBEqU View in LinkedIn

INESTIMABLY IMPORTANT EVENT. "It has been suggested that cyanobacteria raised oxygen levels in the atmosphere around 2.45–2.32 billion y ago during the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), hence dramatically changing life on the planet. The far-reaching impact of the GOE cannot be emphasized enough: it changed Earth’s history by enabling the evolution of aerobic life." http://www.pnas.org/content/110/5/1791.full View in LinkedIn

"CYANOBACTERIA are among the most diverse prokaryotic phyla, with morphotypes ranging from unicellular to multicellular filamentous forms, including those able to terminally (i.e., irreversibly) differentiate in form and function." http://www.pnas.org/content/110/5/1791.full View in LinkedIn

COINCIDENT PATHS. "Evolution of multicellularity coincided with increased diversification of cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event." https://lnkd.in/dfzihDR View in LinkedIn