All Ecology & Evolution articles – Page 4
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NewsHow cyanobacteria developed photosynthetic membranes over the course of evolution
New research analyses hundreds of cyanobacterial genomes to understand the origin of thylakoids, the internal membranes involved in photosynthesis.
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NewsCaught in the act: A gene jumps into the void
Self-splicing introns are a special group of jumping genes. It is more difficult for a gene to jump into another cell or another species. Until now, it had been assumed that, for this to happen, the jumping genes travelled as ‘hitchhiker’ in the genomes of plasmids or viruses, but researchers have made a surprising observation.
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NewsOropouche virus has already infected more than 5 million people in Brazil, study suggests
The recent Oropouche virus outbreak in 2023 has drawn attention in Brazil and other Latin American countries because of its scale and rapid spread. Researchers estimate that since 1960, the virus has infected approximately 9.4 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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NewsScientists just found something weird inside moss - an unexpected fungal roommate
According to new research, mosses have also been hiding something. Researchers studying desert mosses have found evidence that these ancient plants may host fungi inside their tissues. This relationship has not previously been documented.
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NewsGenetics: Oldest-known evidence of plague outbreaks in prehistoric communities
Plague outbreaks dating back to around 5,500 years ago documented in hunter-gatherer communities from southeast Siberia are described in a paper. The findings, based on an analysis of ancient DNA, may be the oldest known evidence of the plague and could shed light on its origins.
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NewsMicrobes frozen in ancient rubbish heaps help reconstruct ancient Greenlanders’ farms, seal hunts, and toilets
The microbiome of ancient middens in Greenland sheds new light on the daily life of Paleo-Inuit and old Norse communities. Researchers say the middens in the cold Arctic acted like long-term natural experiments, with human- and animal-associated bacterial signals remaining detectable many centuries later.
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NewsInvisible chemical landscapes shape life
Plants, animals, and microorganisms constantly communicate through chemical signals. A research team has now shown that these signals merge in the environment to form complex “chemical landscapes” that have effects far beyond those of their individual components.
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NewsCapacity of certain unicellular organisms to stick together may be key to animal evolution
Researchers have found that after feeding a specific bacteria to a certain unicellular relative of animals, the single cells began to stick to one another, revealing a possible mode by which our ancestors began to evolve into animals billions of years ago.
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NewsGenomic analysis redefines the origin of eukaryotic cells
A new genetics study using the MareNostrum supercomputer redefines the genetic origin of the last common ancestor of all eukaryotes, highlighting the contribution of novel bacteria and even giant viruses in the emergence of eukaryotic cells.
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NewsThe evolution of individual species can shape entire species communities
A study demonstrated that the evolution of a single species can alter the composition of an entire species community. The study monitored a microbial community composed of 23 bacterial species for four years. Researchers analysed the community’s species composition and changes in bacterial genomes.
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NewsDolichol biosynthesis conserved across eukaryotes, not limited just to humans
Researchers say a newly proposed three-step “detour” pathway for making dolichol may be more universal than scientists realized. Experiments in yeast suggest eukaryotes may rely on overlapping biochemical pathways, including the evolutionarily conserved “detour” and evidence of a possible “backup route,” to produce a molecule essential to life.
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NewsWhat dental calculus can tell us about the oral microbiomes of ancient Japan
Microbe DNA from ancient dental calculus offers insights into the past oral microbiomes of the Japanese people, including the phylogeny of the periodontal disease-associated archaeon, Methanobrevibacter oralis.
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NewsGene swapping helped build the planet’s decomposers
Researchers have reconstructed the deep history of osmotrophic specialization in eukaryotes. Their findings suggest that four groups of eukaryotes which have specialized in osmotrophy first arose between 720 million and 1 billion years ago and that they share a toolkit of genes involved in osmotrophic functions.
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NewsResearcher discovers single-celled organism that transforms into cannibalistic supergiant
Researchers have discovered a microscopic organism that can transform into a cannibalistic ’supergiant’ that drastically changes size, shape, and behavior, and abandons filter-feeding to hunt and consume their genetically identical relatives.
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NewsResearchers develop new vaccine adjuvant that could make it easier to eradicate polio
Researchers have now come up with a way to modify the injectable polio vaccine so that it can also promote a mucosal immune response. This vaccine could help to achieve polio eradication while avoiding the risks of the oral polio vaccine.
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NewsÖtzi and his microbiome: a 5,300-year-old relationship
Researchers have obtained a detailed picture of the microbial community associated with the Iceman mummy Ötzi. The study provides insights into a complex microbiome, ranging from the gut flora of a Copper Age human to cold-adapted yeasts.
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NewsExtreme adaptation helps Dead Sea single-celled organisms to swim
Researchers have described in detail a structural adaptation supporting one of the Dead Sea’s few hardy inhabitants — a single-celled archaea called Haloarcula marismortui (H. marismortui). They characterized the proteins that form the archaeal filament, a long tail-like structure essential for movement.
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NewsResearchers discover how to turn one germ’s drug resistance into an Achilles’ heel
As Mycobacterium tuberculosis mutates to protect itself from rifampicin, it also creates new weak points that other therapies could exploit. A new study shows that the most common rifampicin-resistance mutation slows bacterial RNA polymerase, creating vulnerabilities that future combination therapies may be able to target.
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NewsPioneering research sheds new light on what shaped extinction pattern of prehistoric marine life – and size clearly mattered
Scientists have shown conclusively for the first time that tiny marine organisms in polar oceans survived the mass extinction event that wiped out prehistoric dinosaurs because they needed less energy and were more tolerant to darkness.
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NewsFungal surges marked Cretaceous mass extinction that ended age of dinosaurs
The asteroid impact thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago was followed by surges of fungi in North America. These are the first findings to provide direct evidence that this post-asteroid fungal bloom may have been a global event.