Genome evolution articles from across Nature Portfolio

Ancient human genomic data from Oakhurst Rockshelter in South Africa push back the earliest reported ancient DNA from the subcontinent to the start of the Holocene, revealing surprising genetic continuity and raising questions about the nature of regional cultural change.

Introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in South Africa has led to reductions in vaccine serotype-related invasive disease. Here, the authors perform a genomic surveillance study to evaluate the impact of vaccines on the population structure of S. pneumoniae.

Ancient human genomic data from Oakhurst Rockshelter in South Africa push back the earliest reported ancient DNA from the subcontinent to the start of the Holocene, revealing surprising genetic continuity and raising questions about the nature of regional cultural change.

Four papers in Nature describe how ancient European migration patterns have shaped the modern human genome.

Beer et al. use multiple complementary approaches to show that declining densities of the Tasmanian devil have had evolutionary effects on gene flow and selection in the subordinate predator, the spotted-tail quoll.

A study in Science identifies Mavericks, a class of ancient, virus-like transposable elements, as a vector for horizontal gene transfer in nematodes.

An analysis of Y chromosomes from 29 primate species shows lineage-specific evolutionary strata as well as changes in the 3D structure, rearrangements and positive selection that have shaped the primate Y chromosome over the past 80 million years.

Sequences of almost 800 wheat genomes have retraced the history of wheat: when and where it was domesticated, how cultivation spread from its Middle Eastern centre of origin and how the genome adapted to selective pressures in new agricultural habitats, not least thanks to its ability to take up genes from wild cousins.