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WIDE SUBTLETY OF OUTCOMES. "When a gene acquires a new TF binding site, it can alter its expression domain either by adding new expression or by repressing expression in certain locations, times or under certain conditions." (TF = transcription factors). https://lnkd.in/dD4GcAS View in LinkedIn

VIRUSES BUILD GENOMES of other species, at a significant rate. "Their contribution to mammalian genomes is probably underestimated because TEs have diverged beyond recognition. Most of them are inactivated by mutations so that they cannot replicate. They make up one third of our genome." (TE = transposable elements). https://lnkd.in/eGaw2Kq View in LinkedIn

OTHER MECHANISMS. "Cis-regulatory changes can evolve de novo by accumulation of mutations in cis-regulatory elements, or can be altered by increases in number and function of transcription factor (TF) binding sites following gene or whole-genome duplication events." https://lnkd.in/dD4GcAS View in LinkedIn

OTHER FUNCTIONAL MUTATIONS. "As changes in the coding region, especially of transcription factors, can cause downstream changes within a GRN that result in spatial and/or temporal alterations in gene expression, a mutation does not have to be in a regulatory region to cause a heritable regulatory change. Thus, while regulatory changes in gene expression are a major factor in evodevo, these changes may be caused by different types of functional mutations." (GRN = gene regulatory network). https://lnkd.in/dD4GcAS View in LinkedIn

"THE REGULATORY HYPOTHESIS predicts that phenotypic evolution is, in most cases, associated with changes in gene expression. Unlike the more stringent cis-regulatory hypothesis championed by Carroll, the more general regulatory hypothesis makes no clear prediction about the molecular nature of the genetic changes underlying regulatory evolution (i.e. whether they are cis or trans), emphasizing only that regulation is key to developmental evolution." https://lnkd.in/dD4GcAS View in LinkedIn

COMPARATIVE REGULATORY NETWORKS. "We argue that only by understanding the regulatory networks that underlie organismal form and function in a comparative context can we determine how developmental evolution can lead to adaptive changes in morphology." https://lnkd.in/dD4GcAS View in LinkedIn

EVODEVO ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION. "We discuss how regulatory hypotheses of developmental evolution can be used to investigate the phenotypic changes associated with adaptive diversification, providing an evolutionary developmental biology (evodevo) approach for the study of adaptive evolution." https://lnkd.in/dD4GcAS View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues from last weekend on the evo-devo concept. This paper examines the genetic basis for flower morphological adaptive changes. These include genetic redundancy, the fact that morphology genetic drivers are different from metabolic pathway drivers. The multi-level and nuanced capacities of the plant genome are exemplified in how flowers may change shape to adapt to new conditions. View in LinkedIn

VIRAL MACHINERY MIRROR OPPOSITE. "Coevolution between retroviruses and cells resulted in a surprising phenomenon: similarities between viruses and host anti-viral defense machineries. Each component of the virus has an equivalent in the cellular antiviral defense system." https://lnkd.in/eGaw2Kq View in LinkedIn

COMPLEX VIRAL SYMBIOSIS. "The wasps use their onboard viruses, called bracoviruses, to control the development and immunity of the caterpillars they parasitize. The wasps use the viral genes to make virus-like particles containing genes for a toxin, which they insert into their caterpillar prey when they lay their eggs. The infected caterpillar then acts as an incubator for the wasp eggs. Meanwhile, the toxin is made by the caterpillar and poisons its immune system, causes paralysis and stops the caterpillar from pupating." https://lnkd.in/d-szGeg View in LinkedIn