Independent Duplications of the Acetylcholinesterase Gene Conferring Insecticide Resistance in the Mosquito Culex pipiens

fiona submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (mbe.oxfordjournals.org)

"Gene duplication is thought to be the main potential source of material for the evolution of new gene functions. Several models have been proposed for the evolution of new functions through duplication, most based on ancient events (Myr). We provide molecular evidence for the occurrence of several (at least 3) independent duplications of the ace-1 locus in the mosquito Culex pipiens, selected in response to insecticide pressure that probably occurred very recently (<40 years ago). This locus encodes the main target of several insecticides, the acetylcholinesterase

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Why Do Oysters Choose to Live Where They Could be Eaten?

channel submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (www.umces.edu)

in the case of oyster larvae, the selection of a place to call home can be a life or death decision.According to an article in the May edition of Ecological Monographs, a team of scientists has found that despite the risk of being eaten by cannibalistic adults, oyster larvae choose to settle in areas of high oyster concentrations to take advantage of future benefits of increased reproductive capacity when they mature

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Genetic Diversity and Selection at the Plasmodium vivax Apical Membrane Antigen-1 (PvAMA-1) Locus in a Sri Lankan Population

alpha submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (mbe.oxfordjournals.org)

"Plasmodium vivax apical membrane antigen 1 (PvAMA-1) is an important malaria vaccine candidate. We present the first comprehensive analysis of nucleotide diversity across the entire PvAMA-1 gene using a single population sample from Sri Lanka. In contrast to what has been observed at the AMA-1 locus of Plasmodium falciparum, the signature of diversifying selection is seen most strongly in Domain II of PvAMA-1, indicating that the different domains in each species may be subject to varying selective pressures and functional constraints."

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Adaptation of a Diverse Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Population to a New Host Is Revealed through a Systematic Approach to Identify Amino Acid Sites under Selection

medal submitted, created time 1 year 9 months (mbe.oxfordjournals.org)

"Simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIV) have had considerable success at crossing species barriers; both human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 and HIV-2 have been transmitted on multiple occasions from SIV-infected natural host species."

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