295 papers
Evolutionary biology explores the dynamic history of life on Earth, tracing how species change, adapt, and diversify over time. This field investigates the mechanisms driving everything from the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria to the complex social behaviors of primates, revealing the deep connections that bind all living organisms together.
On Gist.Science, we ensure these groundbreaking discoveries remain accessible by processing every new preprint uploaded to bioRxiv in this category. Our team generates both plain-language overviews and detailed technical summaries for each paper, bridging the gap between raw research and public understanding without requiring a specialized background.
Below are the latest studies in evolutionary biology, offering fresh insights into the ongoing story of life.
By simulating seasonally fluctuating selection in *Drosophila* populations using realistic genomic and demographic parameters, this study demonstrates that such temporal selection can reduce the genome-wide effective population size by approximately 50%, with the magnitude of reduction primarily driven by the allele frequency amplitude of the most strongly fluctuating loci.
This study utilizes single-cell sequencing across the entire life cycle of the larvacean *Oikopleura dioica* to map its cellular diversity and characterize the molecular signatures of the specialized house-producing epithelium, thereby providing a critical resource for understanding chordate evolution and organ morphogenesis.
By analyzing high-quality genome assemblies and population data across the *Mercurialis* genus, this study reveals that the *M. annua* Y chromosome evolved through two distinct stages of recombination suppression involving a recent inversion and an older degenerated stratum, while identifying *APRR7* as a conserved candidate master sex-determination gene.
This study demonstrates that structural selection in ecological networks is only detectable when analyzing meso-structural domains via order-2 egonets, as aggregated network representations obscure the hierarchical heterogeneity necessary for evolutionary gradients to emerge.
This study resolves a long-standing question in mitochondrial evolution by identifying the bacterial inner membrane transporters CysZ and YihY as the evolutionary ancestors of the mitochondrial ATP/ADP carrier (AAC), thereby establishing a bacterial origin for this critical eukaryotic protein.
This study reveals that global invasions of the ambrosia beetle *Euwallacea fornicatus* are structured by a dominant, genetically depauperate lineage derived from a bridgehead population, while subsequent hybridization with local lineages in regions like South Africa facilitates the purging of deleterious mutations, thereby enhancing the biosecurity threat posed by these invasive beetles.
This study utilized a validated multiplex deep amplicon sequencing assay to demonstrate that *Fasciola hepatica* populations infecting UK ruminants exhibit limited genetic structure and high gene flow across geographic regions, likely driven by livestock movement and parasite adaptation.
Using long-term experimental evolution in *Drosophila melanogaster*, this study demonstrates that substantial genetic variation persists under intense directional selection through balancing-selection mechanisms, enabling rapid phenotypic reversal and the redeployment of hidden low-frequency alleles when selection regimes are switched.
Contrary to the expectation of rapid adaptive evolution at the host-parasite interface, this study reveals that the *Toxoplasma gondii* microneme proteins MIC13, MIC12, and MIC16 are primarily shaped by purifying selection and exhibit phylogenetic discordance rather than positive selection.
This study utilizes molecular data from under-sampled Afghan and Pakistani amphibians to demonstrate that the Hindu Kush mountain range, rather than the previously hypothesized Indus River Valley, serves as the primary biogeographic boundary separating the Palearctic and Oriental realms.