📄 Category

evolutionary biology

460 papers

RegEvol: detection of directional selection in regulatory sequences through phenotypic predictions and phenotype-to-fitness functions

RegEvol is a novel computational framework that detects directional selection in regulatory DNA by integrating machine learning-based predictions of transcription factor binding with evolutionary models to infer fitness functions, successfully identifying adaptive signals in *Drosophila* and human genomes that were previously difficult to detect using sequence conservation alone.

Laverre, A., Latrille, T., Robinson-Rechavi, M.2026-03-05📄 evolutionary biology

Restricted amino acid diversity alters enzymatic phosphoryl-transfer catalysis

This study demonstrates that restricting amino acid diversity in a reconstructed ancestral enzyme can remodel its active site to replace native function with an alternative phosphoryl-transfer reaction, suggesting that early limitations in amino acid availability could have driven the emergence of novel catalytic activities during enzyme evolution.

Yagi, S., Dasgupta, S., Tagami, S. + 1 more2026-03-05📄 evolutionary biology

Constraints on the G1/S transition pathway may favor selection of multicellularity as a passenger phenotype

This study demonstrates that in yeast, simple multicellularity can be maintained as a "passenger" phenotype not because it offers a direct fitness advantage, but because the underlying *ace2* genotype confers a selective benefit—specifically faster exit from quiescence—when combined with specific constraints on the G1/S cell cycle transition.

Ducrocq, T. L., Laporte, D., DAIGNAN-FORNIER, B.2026-03-04📄 evolutionary biology

The perceptual and spatial architecture of Mullerian mimicry in Heliconius Butterflies

By integrating deep-learning phenotyping with avian and butterfly visual modeling, this study reveals that *Heliconius* Müllerian mimicry is not a set of discrete, reciprocal rings but a perceptually structured and spatially dynamic continuum driven by local convergence, heterogeneous spatial overlap, and observer-specific sensory weighting.

Lawrence, C. G., Ramirez, M., Berger-Wolf, T. + 2 more2026-03-04📄 evolutionary biology

Cytoplasmic male sterility and mitochondrial metabolism: evidence for low complex I contribution in male-sterile freshwater snail Physa acuta

This study demonstrates that cytoplasmic male sterility in the freshwater snail *Physa acuta* is linked to an alteration in mitochondrial complex I respiration in sterile individuals, while fertility-restored individuals exhibit compensatory metabolic shifts and higher energy costs that likely explain their reduced growth.

Bererd, S., Roussel, D., Plenet, S. + 3 more2026-03-03📄 evolutionary biology

Organization and evolution of sex-biased gene expression in Drosophila adult sexual circuits

By leveraging single-cell transcriptomics in *Drosophila*, this study reveals that sex-biased gene expression in adult sexual circuits is limited, highly cell-type-specific, and largely species-specific, suggesting that sex-specific adaptation occurs through selective gene programs at localized circuit nodes to preserve evolvability despite widespread transcriptomic coupling between sexes.

Chen, D. S., Gifford, H., Kurmangaliyev, Y. Z. + 1 more2026-03-03📄 evolutionary biology

Direct and community-driven selection jointly drive body size evolution in harvested predator-prey systems

This study demonstrates that body size evolution in harvested predator-prey systems is jointly driven by direct size-selective harvesting and indirect community-mediated selection, where the interplay of these forces and eco-evolutionary feedbacks significantly alters evolutionary trajectories and fishery yields.

Villain, T., Poggiale, J.-C., Duquenoy, B. + 1 more2026-03-03📄 evolutionary biology

Potential and limits of the evolutionary rescue of harvested food webs

This study demonstrates that while evolutionary dynamics in harvested food webs generally enhance network robustness, the specific outcomes depend heavily on fishing strategies and evolutionary rates, often creating a trade-off where concentrating effort on lower trophic levels promotes overall persistence but targeting predators can drive the collapse of higher trophic levels.

Villain, T., Poggiale, J.-C., Peley, A. + 1 more2026-03-03📄 evolutionary biology

The distribution of fitness effects of new mutations in regulatory regions of the D. melanogaster genome

By combining experimentally validated regulatory regions with realistic forward-in-time simulations, this study reveals that while population genetics methods struggle to infer the effects of mildly deleterious mutations, a large fraction of new mutations in *D. melanogaster* non-coding regions are moderately deleterious, ultimately demonstrating that these regions contribute the majority of new deleterious mutations and beneficial substitutions and are essential for accurately modeling background selection across the genome.

Daigle, A., Marsh, J., Kay, A. + 1 more2026-03-03📄 evolutionary biology

Evolutionary Divergence of Structure-Function Coupling between Human and Macaque: Spatial Patterns and Transcriptomic Basis

This study reveals that humans and macaques exhibit distinct structural-functional coupling patterns—high in human prefrontal regions versus macaque sensorimotor areas—that are negatively correlated with cortical expansion and underpinned by species-specific transcriptomic adaptations in synaptic function and glial cell types.

Ma, J., Li, W., Ma, Y. + 6 more2026-03-03📄 evolutionary biology