Evolution Letters

Check out our paper in Evolution Letters!

We used D. melanogaster pigmentation as a focal trait to explore parallelism in phenotypic and genomic responses to environmental change - read more at the link below 👇

Figure showing the experimental overview as a graphic. Remaining alt text taken from the figure caption in the paper: (A) we sampled flies from six wild orchard populations ranging from Homestead, FL, to Lancaster, MA, and established isofemale lines in the laboratory. (B) We returned to a focal orchard in Media, PA, at early- and late-season timepoints and collected flies to capture evolutionary patterns following winter and summer conditions. (C) We then seeded outdoor mesocosms (N = 9) with an outbred population originating from early-season collections in Media, PA, and sampled flies at the end of summer (mid-season) and fall (late-season) to determine if seasonal patterns are recapitulated in experimental populations controlled for migration, drift, and cryptic population structure. (D) Across each wild or experimental context, we sampled flies, established lines in the lab, completed common garden treatment to remove environmental effects, and scored females for abdominal pigmentation. We also conducted pooled DNA sequencing on additional flies sampled from each population to map genomic patterns for candidate pigmentation SNPs.

How predictably does complex trait adaptation proceed over space and time in wild populations?
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by @skylerberardi.bsky.social, @paulrschmidt.bsky.social et al.

📷: Dr. Rush Dhillon

Diverging Arabidopsis populations quickly accumulate pollen-acting genetic incompatibilities
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Christopher Condon et al.

A photo of the flowers of Arabidopsis thaliana, which has small white flowers with yellowy-green centers.

Predicting fitness in future climates: insights from temporally replicated field experiments in Arabidopsis thaliana
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Romain Villoutreix et al.

📷: Krzysztof Ziarnek

Repeated evolution of reduced visual investment at the onset of ecological speciation in high-altitude Heliconius butterflies Abstract. Colonization of new habitats is typically followed by divergent selection acting on traits that are immediately important for fitness. For exampl

New from @gadusmo.bsky.social’s PhD thesis 👐🏼 with @dickmerrill.bsky.social, Jake Morris, Camilo Salazar and Carolina Pardo-Díaz

‘Repeated evolution of reduced visual investment at the onset of ecological speciation in high-altitude #Heliconius butterflies’ 1/n 🧪

academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Dynamics of infection and immunity over 50 years as marine stickleback adapt to freshwater Abstract. When a species colonizes a new environment, it may encounter new parasites to which its immune system is poorly adapted. After an initial spike i

New paper in Evolution Letters @evolletters.bsky.social by an undergrad in my lab!
academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
We modeled eco-evo dynamics of infection & immunity and then analyzed 50 years of data from stickleback & tapeworms (thanks to museum samples!)

Landscape structure as a driver of eco-evolution in host–parasite systems Abstract. Spatial network structure of biological systems drives ecology and evolution by distributing organisms and their genes. The ubiquitous host–paras

Landscape structure as a driver of eco-evolution in host–parasite systems
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by J.N. Deshpande et al.

A photo of the flowers of Arabidopsis thaliana, which has small white flowers with yellowy-green centers.

Predicting fitness in future climates: insights from temporally replicated field experiments in Arabidopsis thaliana
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Romain Villoutreix et al.

📷: Krzysztof Ziarnek

Diverging Arabidopsis populations quickly accumulate pollen-acting genetic incompatibilities
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Christopher Condon et al.

Evolutionary trends in the emergence of skeletal cell types Abstract. Cell types are fundamental functional units of multicellular organisms. The evolutionary emergence of new cell types is underpinned by genetic ch

Evolutionary trends in the emergence of skeletal cell types
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Amor Damatac et al.

Replicate geographic transects across a hybrid zone reveal parallelism and differences in the genetic architecture of reproductive isolation Abstract. Determining the genetic architecture of traits involved in adaptation and speciation is one of the key components of understanding the evolutiona

Replicate geographic transects across a hybrid zone reveal parallelism and differences in the genetic architecture of reproductive isolation
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Georgy Semenov et al.

Check out our cover article in @evolletters.bsky.social, Size in the city: morphological differences between city and forest great tits have a genetic basis. By @babimt.bsky.social @keesvanoers.bsky.social @mevisser.bsky.social. academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...

Diverging Arabidopsis populations quickly accumulate pollen-acting genetic incompatibilities Abstract. The process by which species diverge from one another, gradually accumulate genetic incompatibilities, and eventually reach full-fledged reproduc

Diverging Arabidopsis populations quickly accumulate pollen-acting genetic incompatibilities
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Christopher Condon et al.

Read our study to learn more about spatial networks and evo-evolutionary feedbacks in host-parasite systems.
@efronhofer.bsky.social

Diverging Arabidopsis populations quickly accumulate pollen-acting genetic incompatibilities Abstract. The process by which species diverge from one another, gradually accumulate genetic incompatibilities, and eventually reach full-fledged reproduc

Diverging Arabidopsis populations quickly accumulate pollen-acting genetic incompatibilities
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Christopher Condon et al.

Size in the city: morphological differences between city and forest great tits have a genetic basis Abstract. Animals living in cities are smaller than their conspecifics from rural areas but whether such differences are caused by genetic differences or f

Size in the city: morphological differences between city and forest great tits have a genetic basis
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Barbara M Tomotani et al.

Landscape structure as a driver of eco-evolution in host–parasite systems Abstract. Spatial network structure of biological systems drives ecology and evolution by distributing organisms and their genes. The ubiquitous host–paras

Landscape structure as a driver of eco-evolution in host–parasite systems
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by J.N. Deshpande et al.

Replicate geographic transects across a hybrid zone reveal parallelism and differences in the genetic architecture of reproductive isolation Abstract. Determining the genetic architecture of traits involved in adaptation and speciation is one of the key components of understanding the evolutiona

happy to see our study on genetic parallelism of reproductive isolation in chickadee hybrid zones out in @evolletters.bsky.social—great work led by Georgy Semenov & Scott Taylor: doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Do the “big four” orders of insects comprise evolutionarily significant higher taxa with coherent patterns of selection on protein-coding genes? Higher taxa are normally considered to be arbitrary levels in the branching tree of life, with no level having greater or lesser significance for evolution

Do the “big four” orders of insects comprise evolutionarily significant higher taxa with coherent patterns of selection on protein-coding genes?
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Pierre J Février and Timothy G Barraclough

Enemy dispersal drives the diversity loss of bacterial victim populations at diversity cold spots Abstract. Dispersal between heterogenous habitats is a major determinant of population diversification, and may often introduce new morphotypes in habitats

Enemy dispersal drives the diversity loss of bacterial victim populations at diversity cold spots
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Xiao-Lin Chu

Manuscript image

Image of a fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) credit: Sanjay Acharya

Does the ratio of males to females predictably influence the ability to monopolise mating partners? Is male sexual selection more intense when femaleIs are rare? 🪰

We investigated by manipulating sex ratios in polyandrous fruit flies in our new #OA manuscript published in @evolletters.bsky.social

An image of a fruit fly created by collage.

Rethinking the relationship between the sex ratio and sexual selection
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by @gcmcdon.bsky.social, @daniedmunds.bsky.social, @stuartwigby.bsky.social, and @jennyperry.bsky.social

📷: Dani Edmunds

A development-centric perspective on pace-of-life syndromes The gene-centric and development-centric perspective on pace-of-life syndromes (POLSs) differ in their assumptions on what trade-offs and mechanisms underl

A development-centric perspective on pace-of-life syndromes
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Isabel M Smallegange and Anja Guenther.

Co-regulation of cooperative and private traits by PsdR in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Abstract. Social interactions profoundly shape the dynamics and functionality of microbial populations. However, mechanisms governing the regulation of coo

Co-regulation of cooperative and private traits by PsdR in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Huifang Qiu, Ajai A Dandekar, and Weijun Dai.

With @vdbijl.bsky.social , graphics by @jacejostles.bsky.social

Hiding in plain sight: the Y chromosome and its reinvigorated role in evolutionary processes
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Wouter van der Bijl and
@judithmank.bsky.social.

📷: Jacelyn Shu

Recent studies have revealed unexpected Y chromosome diversity and suggest that the Y may play a big role in evolution. @vdbijl.bsky.social and I wrote this perspective for
@evolletters.bsky.social with a few suggestions and requests. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan... Figs by www.jacelyndesigns.com

Want more of the story behind the science? Check out the accompanying blog post by author Ryan Imrie!

evolutionletters.net/examining-pa...

Fold changes in viral load across Drosophilidae host species after infection with different viruses. Bar heights and color show the mean change in viral load from 0 to 2 dpi on a log10 scale, with error bars representing the standard error of the mean. The phylogeny of Drosophilidae hosts is shown at the bottom, with a scale bar for the number of nucleotide substitutions per site and an axis showing the approximate age since divergence (mya)

Is susceptibility to different viruses phylogenetically correlated across host species?
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Ryan M Imrie, Megan A Wallace, and @blongdon.bsky.social.

Phylogeny of 35 host species next to figure with bars showing viral load for 11 different viruses

Just out "Positive correlations in susceptibility to a diverse panel of viruses across Drosophilidae host species"; 35 host species * 11 viruses. Work led by Ryan Imrie together with Megan Wallace in @evolletters.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/evle...