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REGIONAL MOLECULAR EVOLUTION. "Because organisms vary widely in genome GC content in a manner consistent with directional mutation pressure, we might expect the different parts of the RNA molecule to change in composition at different rates due to the different selective constraints in different regions, just as the three reading frames within mRNAs change in composition at different rates that reflect the average effect of mutations in each frame." https://lnkd.in/erj2nzZ View in LinkedIn

CONSCRIPTED BODYGUARDS. "Some parasites turn their host into a bodyguard to ensure the protection of the parasite from enemies ... Thyrinteina leucocerae caterpillars protect pupae of the braconid parasitoid Glyptapanteles ... Once the parasitoid larvae leave the host to pupate, the host defends the pupae by knocking off predators with violent head-swings, resulting in reduced mortality rates of the parasitoid pupae." https://lnkd.in/e2g9KSe View in LinkedIn

ALU DOMAIN. "All domains of life have their own peculiar and related 7S like RNAs, but only eukaryotes and some prokaryotes have the Alu domain (stem loops) at the 5′ end. This RNA appears to have been present in an RNA quasispecies-like world with conserved domains of dsRNA and bound proteins." https://lnkd.in/eUYvi8e View in LinkedIn

"THE PARASITOID WASP Glyptapanteles lays its eggs, about 80 at a time, in young geometrid caterpillars. The eggs hatch and the larvae feed on the caterpillar's body fluids. When they are fully developed, they eat through the caterpillar's skin, attach themselves to a nearby branch or leaf and wrap themselves up in a cocoon." https://lnkd.in/epZss3y View in LinkedIn

RNA SECONDARY FUNCTIONS. "Loops that terminate a single stem, such as the GNRA tetraloop, may engage in tertiary interactions, or junctions that link several helices together may be selected to orient the helices specifically." (Secondary structure and functional differences). https://lnkd.in/erj2nzZ View in LinkedIn

PARASITES "have a predilection for the ‘immunologically privileged’ site of the central nervous system because it shelters them from the full fury of the host’s immune system. However, this location also provides a parasite with direct ‘access to the machinery’ to alter host behaviour." The brain, eye and testes are also immunologically privileged sites. https://lnkd.in/evYSDdS View in LinkedIn

CO-EVOLUTION. "Many parasite-induced behavioral changes may be the product of coevolution between hosts and parasites, but the extent to which specific alterations can be considered adaptive is frequently debated. The evolutionary arms race between parasites and hosts involves a series of adaptations and counter-adaptations. Parasite-induced behavioral changes in a host are considered adaptive when the behaviors have evolved to increase the fitness of either the host or the parasite." https://lnkd.in/e4MsheB View in LinkedIn

PARASITIC HACKING. "Parasitic manipulation can be defined as the alteration by the parasite of a host phenotypic trait in a way that enhances the parasite’s probability of transmission and survival." Lovely review of biochemistry and genetics of parasite manipulation of host behavior. https://lnkd.in/e4DPgex View in LinkedIn

FUNGUS TURNS ANTS INTO ZOMBIES. "Infected ants drop down from canopy nests and climb up again in understory vegetation to bite into leaf veins before dying. This death grip is timed around solar noon and occurs at approximately 25 cm above the soil surface. This position is optimal for fungal sporulation, where the fungal fruiting body grows from the ant’s brain and releases its spores." https://lnkd.in/e2g9KSe View in LinkedIn

DRIVER'S SEAT. "Moreover, since sexual reproduction of T. gondii can be accomplished only in the feline, there might be strong selective pressure on the parasite to evolve such a mechanism...the formation of parasitic cysts in the brain of its host places T.gondii in a privileged position to manipulate behaviour." https://lnkd.in/eR7NyAm View in LinkedIn