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Exposing clonal plant populations to volatile compounds produced by root-associated microorganisms, the authors show that combinations of different plant phenotypes induced by this exposure can lead to transgressive overyielding in biomass when different phenotypes are combined in diverse mixtures.
Across terrestrial and aqueous ecosystems, vertebrates increase litter decomposition, both directly and indirectly, by 6.7% on average, and this effect interacts with but generally occurs at a later stage of decomposition than the effect of invertebrates.
Decline of the Tasmanian devil due to transmissible cancer has allowed mesopredator release of the spotted-tailed quoll. Population genomic analysis of the quoll shows the effect of devil decline on population structure, and selection on genes, including those for muscle development and locomotion.
The authors apply explicit phylogenetic methods to single-cell transcriptomic data of eye cells to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cell types in distantly related mammals.
The authors collate literature on the responses of bird assemblages to forest loss and show that locations with a more variable natural environment and a longer history of agricultural land use have bird assemblages that are more tolerant to forest loss.
Using pseudogenes as a neutral reference, the authors examine whether prokaryotic pangenomes have evolved primarily under selection or neutral drift. They show that even rare intact accessory genes are often under selection, providing support for an adaptive pangenome model.
A compilation of survey data from pre- and post-2000 for 42 raptor species across parts of West, Central, East and southern Africa shows 88% of species in population decline and reveals trends across regions, protected areas and species size.
The authors evolved antibiotic-resistant Helicobacter pylori in the absence of antibiotics and presence of DNA from antibiotic-sensitive strains. Horizontal gene transfer mediated the molecular reverse evolution of the antibiotic-resistance gene to the antibiotic-sensitive allele, and the authors used theoretical modelling to determine the evolutionary conditions that promote reverse evolution.
Combining long-term atmospheric CO2 records with satellite observations of vegetation activities across the Northern Hemisphere, the authors identify a weakening trend of the link between spring and summer productivity over the past 40 years.
Remote sensing of vegetation productivity in mangroves and nearby terrestrial evergreen forests shows that mangrove productivity has increased more but also shown more variability in the last two decades compared to nearby terrestrial forests, suggesting they are more vulnerable to coastal water deficits.
The authors compare how grasslands, shrublands and forests differ in their capacity to recover from fires, and how this recovery depends on deviations in water balance caused by drought; they show that the compound effects of fire and drought are less impactful in forests than in non-forests, owing to deeper rooting structures that can maintain access to water.
A combination of phylogenetic analysis and functional assays reveals surprising diversity of taste receptors in the ancestors of vertebrates and their complex evolutionary history.
Humans have the highest evolutionary rate towards becoming more altricial across all placental mammals, but this results primarily from postnatal enlargement of brain size rather than neonatal changes.
Using a new phylogeny of Pseudosuchia (crocodile-line archosaurs), the authors use diversification analyses and information theory to show that the interplay of abiotic and biotic processes over hundreds of millions of years shaped evolutionary history and diversification dynamics in this clade.
An agent-based model suggests that bacteria use direct-contact systems for inhibiting competitors when the attacking strain is outnumbered, and long-range diffusion systems when the attacker is common. These predictions are supported by competition experiments with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which also show that strains can use both types of system in conjunction.
Melanoma cell lines are used to identify the tumour characteristics that increase the chances of drug dependency, and mathematical modelling shows that this can be exploited for treatment using drug holidays with only measurements of total population size required for near optimality.
Analysing ten bipartite networks of empirically sampled biotic interactions and the associated species’ spatial distribution, the authors model how network degree distributions can be predicted by accounting for the frequency of co-occurrences between species.
The authors used multiple lines of evidence including behavioural assays, quantitative genetics and transcriptomics to explore schooling behaviour in guppies. Both genomic and transcriptomic analyses indicated that genes involved in neuron migration and synaptic function played key roles in the evolution of schooling behaviour.