Evolution articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Domestication of wild boar populations has led to phenotypically distinct European and Asian pig breeds. Here, the authors show that Asian haplotypes that have introgressed into European pig breeds harbour genes that control economically important traits such as meat quality, development and fertility.

    • Mirte Bosse
    • , Hendrik-Jan Megens
    •  & Martien A. M. Groenen

  • Article |

    PRDM9 is a hybrid sterility gene in mammals; yet its role in primate evolution is unclear. Here, Schwartz et al. identify new PRDM9alleles in 64 primates and show rapid evolution throughout the primate lineage, which suggests that PRDM9 plays a major role in speciation.

    • Jerrod J. Schwartz
    • , David J. Roach
    •  & Jay Shendure

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding how evolution of antimicrobial resistance increases resistance to other drugs is of key importance. Here, Lazar et al. build a map of cross-resistance interactions between antibiotics in Escherichia coliand show that chemical and genomic similarities are good predictors of bacterial cross-resistance.

    • Viktória Lázár
    • , István Nagy
    •  & Csaba Pál

  • Article |

    The potential preservation of viruses in the fossil record is poorly understood. Here, the authors perform metagenomic and microscopic analyses of viruses in living microbial mats and after mineralization, and propose criteria for identifying fossilized viruses.

    • Muriel Pacton
    • , David Wacey
    •  & Crisogono Vasconcelos

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses, NCLDVs, are eukaryotic viruses with large genomes, known to infect animals and diverse unicellular eukaryotes. Here, Maumus et al. find NCLDV-like sequences in two land plants and show that they are transcriptionally inactive and highly methylated.

    • Florian Maumus
    • , Aline Epert
    •  & Guillaume Blanc

  • Article |

    Visual signals that help individuals recognize their own species are predicted to be distinct from those of closely related sympatric species, but evidence for this pattern is scarce. Here, Allen et al.show guenon faces are distinctive, specifically from those of other guenon species they encounter.

    • William L. Allen
    • , Martin Stevens
    •  & James P. Higham

  • Article |

    The evolutionary origin of tumours remains largely unknown. Here, Domazet-Lošo et al. show evidence for naturally occurring tumours in the freshwater polyp, Hydra, and suggest that tumours have deep evolutionary roots.

    • Tomislav Domazet-Lošo
    • , Alexander Klimovich
    •  & Thomas C.G. Bosch

  • Article |

    The ability of a pathogen to adapt to new hosts affects its ability to spread in new environments. Here, Tsetsarkin et al.analysed mutations that enabled the chikungunya virus to adapt to a mosquito vector and predict that specific mutations will result in greater transmission efficiency.

    • Konstantin A. Tsetsarkin
    • , Rubing Chen
    •  & Scott C. Weaver

  • Article |

    The mechanisms that open and stabilize basement membrane (BM) gaps are poorly understood. Here the authors combine evolutionary and cell biological studies of nematode uterine–vulval attachment to show that BM gaps are widened by cell division and stabilized in their position by attachment to non-dividing cells.

    • David Q. Matus
    • , Emily Chang
    •  & David R. Sherwood

  • Article |

    The seas of the Mesozoic were populated by marine reptiles, yet their modes of locomotion remain unknown. Here, Zhang et al. describe seabed tracks made by the paddles of Middle Triassic nothosaurs in southwestern China, which shows that these marine reptiles used their forelimbs for propulsion.

    • Qiyue Zhang
    • , Wen Wen
    •  & Qican Zhang

  • Article |

    The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) represents the most severe climatic event since modern humans arrived in Europe and it is likely that it has changed their morphology. Here, Brewster et al. examine human cranial morphology from before and after the LGM and show significant differences across periods.

    • Ciarán Brewster
    • , Christopher Meiklejohn
    •  & Ron Pinhasi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Symbiotic associations are widespread, yet their evolutionary histories remain poorly understood. Here, Werner et. al.show a single evolutionary innovation driving symbiotic nitrogen fixation, followed by multiple gains and losses of the symbiosis and the emergence of groups with stable nitrogen fixers.

    • Gijsbert D. A. Werner
    • , William K. Cornwell
    •  & E. Toby Kiers

  • Article |

    The blind mole rat (BMR), Spalax galili, is perfectly adapted to life underground. Here, the authors sequence the BMR genome and transcriptome and highlight genomic features that may have played a role in adaptation to extreme underground stressors, such as darkness hypercapnia and hypoxia.

    • Xiaodong Fang
    • , Eviatar Nevo
    •  & Jun Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dyslipidemia and obesity have a high prevalence in populations with Amerindian backgrounds, such as Mexican–Americans. Here, the authors design an approach to identify Amerindian risk genes in Mexicans and identify five genomic loci, which include RORA and SIK3that may contribute to the risk of dyslipidemia and obesity in Amerindian populations.

    • Arthur Ko
    • , Rita M. Cantor
    •  & Päivi Pajukanta

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Theory predicts that extortioners, individuals that obtain advantages through forces and threats, can outperform any generous co-player. Here, Hilbe et al.show experimentally that humans punish extortion by refusing to cooperate, which reduces the extortioner’s gains, and suggest that generosity is more profitable in the long run.

    • Christian Hilbe
    • , Torsten Röhl
    •  & Manfred Milinski

  • Article |

    New Guinea highlands are highly diverse, yet the patterns of colonization and diversification in this area remain unclear. Here, Toussaint et al. show that the radiation of the diving beetles Exocelina,originated in emerging highlands of central New Guinea, from which other areas were recently colonized.

    • Emmanuel F. A. Toussaint
    • , Robert Hall
    •  & Michael Balke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plant colonization of land is an important evolutionary event. Here, the authors sequence the genome of a filamentous terrestrial alga and, through a comparative analysis with related algae and land plant species, provide insight into how aquatic algae adapted to terrestrial environments.

    • Koichi Hori
    • , Fumito Maruyama
    •  & Hiroyuki Ohta

  • Article |

    The evolution of agronomic conditions after domestication in the Fertile Crescent remains poorly understood. Here, Araus et al. show that water availability and soil fertility for crops were higher in the past and that domesticated cereals showed a progressive increase in kernel size following domestication.

    • José L. Araus
    • , Juan P. Ferrio
    •  & Ramón Buxó

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rice false smut, caused by the pathogenic ascomycete fungus Ustilaginoidea virens (Cooke) Takah, has a significant economic impact on crop production. Here, Zhang et al. report the draft genome sequence of U. virensand provide insight into the evolution of genes involved in pathogenicity and adaptation to a biotrophic and floret-infecting lifestyle.

    • Yong Zhang
    • , Kang Zhang
    •  & Wenxian Sun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although termites are major human pests, they have an important role in maintaining ecosystem function and biodiversity. Here, the authors sequence the genome and transcriptomes of a dampwood termite and highlight genes that may be involved in the mechanisms underlying insect social behaviour.

    • Nicolas Terrapon
    • , Cai Li
    •  & Jürgen Liebig

  • Article |

    Mutations are the source of genetic variation, yet the mechanisms determining the distribution of mutations are unclear. Here, Jones et al.show that gene interactions allow natural selection to shape the distribution of mutations, suggesting that mutations can be a biased source of genetic variation.

    • Adam G. Jones
    • , Reinhard Bürger
    •  & Stevan J. Arnold

  • Article |

    The filamentous fungus Eurotium rubrum is one of the few organisms able to survive in the hypersaline Dead Sea. Here Kis-Papo et al. provide genomic and transcriptomic data that reveal potential cellular and metabolic mechanisms underlying adaptation to hypersaline stress in E. rubrum.

    • Tamar Kis-Papo
    • , Alfons R. Weig
    •  & Eviatar Nevo

  • Article |

    Tyrannosaurids were top predators in Asia and North America during the latest Cretaceous and most species had deep skulls. Here, Lü et al. describe mature fossils of Qianzhousaurus sinensis, a new long-snouted tyrannosaurid species from southeastern China that groups with other long snout species from Asia.

    • Junchang Lü
    • , Laiping Yi
    •  & Liu Chen

  • Article |

    Haldane’s sieve is a theoretical prediction which states that recessive beneficial mutations rarely contribute to adaptation. Here, Gerstein et al. show rapid growth of Saccharomycescarrying recessive beneficial mutations, due to loss-of-heterozygosity when exposed to a fungicide and provide a mechanism for avoiding Haldane’s sieve.

    • A. C. Gerstein
    • , A. Kuzmin
    •  & S. P. Otto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spiders use self-produced venom and silk for their daily survival. Here, the authors report the assembled genome of the social velvet spider and a draft assembly of the tarantula genome and, together with proteomic data, provide insights into the evolution of genes that affect venom and silk production.

    • Kristian W. Sanggaard
    • , Jesper S. Bechsgaard
    •  & Jun Wang

  • Article |

    Reconstructing patterns of diversification of early animals is challenging. Here, Vannier et al.describe complex digestive organs in arthropods from the early Cambrian of China and Greenland and show similarities with modern crustaceans, suggesting that these structures might have promoted ecological diversification.

    • Jean Vannier
    • , Jianni Liu
    •  & Allison C. Daley

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The factors varying mutation rate at a particular site in a single genotype remain elusive. Here, Krašovec et al. show that mutation rates at sites conferring resistance to rifampicin in Escherichia coli decrease with population density, and that mutation-rate plasticity is controlled by the luxSgene.

    • Rok Krašovec
    • , Roman V. Belavkin
    •  & Christopher G. Knight

  • Article |

    Whether or not intuition favours cooperative decision making has been controversial. Rand et al.carry out a meta-analysis of 15 studies involving volunteers playing economic games, and confirm a role for intuition in cooperation, which varies according to the volunteers’ previous experience with similar games.

    • David G. Rand
    • , Alexander Peysakhovich
    •  & Joshua D. Greene

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Gut microbes influence our health and may contribute to human adaptation to different lifestyles. Here, the authors describe the gut microbiome of a community of hunter-gatherers and identify unique features that could be linked to a foraging lifestyle.

    • Stephanie L. Schnorr
    • , Marco Candela
    •  & Alyssa N. Crittenden

  • Article |

    Internal organs are hard to fossilize and so far only digestive and nervous systems have been described for the Cambrian arthropod Fuxianhuia protensa. Here, Ma et al. describe cardiovascular structures of F. protensaand show that they are similar to the vascular system of extant arthropods.

    • Xiaoya Ma
    • , Peiyun Cong
    •  & Nicholas J. Strausfeld

  • Article |

    Social learning is crucial to the evolutionary success of humans. Here, the authors evaluate social learning strategies in a sample of human subjects and find that some individuals imitate the behaviours of their most successful peers, while others conform to the behaviour of the majority.

    • Lucas Molleman
    • , Pieter van den Berg
    •  & Franz J. Weissing

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pterosaurs were Mesozoic flying reptiles with extremely large body sizes. Here, Benson et al.demonstrate that pterosaurs evolved increasing body sizes during the Cretaceous, at the same time of bird radiation, suggesting that competition can drive macroevolution.

    • Roger B. J. Benson
    • , Rachel A. Frigot
    •  & Richard J. Butler

  • Article |

    Some echinoderms have photosensory organs composed of microlenses, yet the evolutionary origin of these microlenses is unclear. Here, Gorzelak et al.describe evidence of microlenses in Late Cretaceous brittle stars and starfish, suggesting that such visual systems were already present at this time.

    • Przemysław Gorzelak
    • , Mariusz A. Salamon
    •  & Bruno Ferré

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