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The phylogenetic tree has been a core conceptual tool for evolutionary biology for nearly 200 years. This editorial explores the role of the tree as a metaphor, discussing two new PLOS Biology Essays that look to the future.
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Metáfora , Filogenia , Evolución Biológica , Biología , Humanos , AnimalesRESUMEN
Meta-research involves the interrogation of every stage of the research lifecycle, from conception to publication and dissemination. Looking back over the first six years of PLOS Biology Meta-Research Articles highlights the important insights that can be obtained from such "research on research".
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Investigación Biomédica/métodos , Proyectos de Investigación/tendencias , Bibliometría , Investigación Biomédica/tendencias , HumanosRESUMEN
As the UN International Day for Biological Diversity enters its twentieth year, we take stock of recent developments and trends in biodiversity research and renew the call to build a better shared future for all life.
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Biodiversidad , Conservación de los Recursos NaturalesRESUMEN
Why do some amyloids cause serious neurodegenerative diseases, while others have important biological functions? A new study of the functional amyloid Orb2 suggests that it's all about speed. Read the Research Article.
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Proteínas Amiloidogénicas/metabolismo , Proteínas de Drosophila/metabolismo , Factores de Transcripción/metabolismo , Factores de Escisión y Poliadenilación de ARNm/metabolismo , AnimalesRESUMEN
Fatty acids made in chloroplasts must be exported into the rest of the cell to be converted into commercially important plant oils. A new study identifies FAX1 as a protein that mediates this crucial transport step. Read the Research Article.
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Proteínas de Arabidopsis/metabolismo , Arabidopsis/metabolismo , Ácidos Grasos/metabolismo , Regulación de la Expresión Génica de las Plantas , Proteínas de la Membrana/metabolismo , Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusión/metabolismoRESUMEN
A new study reveals that an exotic lipid, phosphatidylthreonine, makes up a substantial proportion of the membrane of a widespread human parasite and is essential for its virulence. Read the Research Article.
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Membrana Celular/metabolismo , Glicerofosfolípidos/metabolismo , Metabolismo de los Lípidos , Modelos Biológicos , Proteínas Protozoarias/metabolismo , Treonina/análogos & derivados , Toxoplasma/metabolismo , Transferasas (Grupos de Otros Fosfatos Sustitutos)/metabolismo , Animales , Humanos , Membrana Dobles de Lípidos/metabolismo , Especificidad de la Especie , Treonina/metabolismo , Toxoplasma/enzimología , Toxoplasma/crecimiento & desarrollo , Toxoplasma/patogenicidad , VirulenciaRESUMEN
A study of zebra finches reveals the potential advantages of idiosyncratic mate choice in monogamous animal species. Read the Research Article.
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Pinzones/genética , Aptitud Genética , Preferencia en el Apareamiento Animal/fisiología , Comportamiento de Nidificación , Reproducción , Animales , Femenino , MasculinoRESUMEN
A new study uses a massive comparative population genetics dataset to explore why the neutral genetic diversity of a species does not have a simple relationship to its population size.
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Biodiversidad , Selección Genética , AnimalesRESUMEN
This synopsis examines the implications of a new study that imposes primate-like expression of the transcription factor Pax6 on the developing mouse cortex and finds evidence of primate-like proliferation of neuronal progenitors.
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Proteínas del Ojo/metabolismo , Proteínas de Homeodominio/metabolismo , Neocórtex/citología , Células-Madre Neurales/metabolismo , Neuroglía/metabolismo , Factores de Transcripción Paired Box/metabolismo , Proteínas Represoras/metabolismo , Animales , Femenino , MasculinoRESUMEN
Rapid sequential speciation events can outpace the fixation of genetic variants, resulting in a family tree that lacks clear branching patterns. A new study of bird genomes reveals such an explosive super-radiation that may coincide with the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period.
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Aves/genética , Evolución Molecular , Especiación Genética , Variación Genética , Filogenia , AnimalesRESUMEN
To mark our tenth Anniversary at PLOS Biology, we are launching a special, celebratory Tenth Anniversary PLOS Biology Collection which showcases 10 specially selected PLOS Biology research articles drawn from a decade of publishing excellent science. It also features newly commissioned articles, including thought-provoking pieces on the Open Access movement (past and present), on article-level metrics, and on the history of the Public Library of Science. Each research article highlighted in the collection is also accompanied by a PLOS Biologue blog post to extend the impact of these remarkable studies to the widest possible audience.
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Acceso a la Información , Publicaciones Periódicas como Asunto , Ciencia , Aniversarios y Eventos Especiales , Revisión de la Investigación por ParesRESUMEN
A genome-wide association scan in individuals with Crohn's disease by the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium detected strong association at four novel loci. We tested 37 SNPs from these and other loci for association in an independent case-control sample. We obtained replication for the autophagy-inducing IRGM gene on chromosome 5q33.1 (replication P = 6.6 x 10(-4), combined P = 2.1 x 10(-10)) and for nine other loci, including NKX2-3, PTPN2 and gene deserts on chromosomes 1q and 5p13.
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Autofagia/genética , Enfermedad de Crohn/genética , Proteínas de Unión al GTP/genética , Predisposición Genética a la Enfermedad , Variación Genética , Animales , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Humanos , Ratones , Polimorfismo de Nucleótido Simple , Análisis de Secuencia de ADNAsunto(s)
Archaea/citología , Archaea/fisiología , Fenómenos Fisiológicos Bacterianos , Evolución Biológica , Mitocondrias/fisiología , Simbiosis , Animales , Apoptosis , Citofagocitosis , Retículo Endoplásmico/fisiología , Metabolismo Energético , Humanos , Mitocondrias/genética , Modelos BiológicosRESUMEN
The human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) Rev protein regulates the nuclear export of intron-containing viral RNAs by recruiting the CRM1 nuclear export receptor. Here, we employed a combination of functional and phylogenetic analyses to identify and characterize a species-specific determinant within human CRM1 (hCRM1) that largely overcomes established defects in murine cells to the post-transcriptional stages of the HIV-1 life cycle. hCRM1 expression in murine cells promotes the cytoplasmic accumulation of intron-containing viral RNAs, resulting in a substantial stimulation of the net production of infectious HIV-1 particles. These stimulatory effects require a novel surface-exposed element within HEAT repeats 9A and 10A, discrete from the binding cleft previously shown to engage Rev's leucine-rich nuclear export signal. Moreover, we show that this element is a unique feature of higher primate CRM1 proteins, and discuss how this sequence has evolved from a non-functional, ancestral sequence.
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VIH-1/fisiología , Carioferinas/genética , Receptores Citoplasmáticos y Nucleares/genética , Replicación Viral/genética , Productos del Gen rev del Virus de la Inmunodeficiencia Humana/genética , Secuencia de Aminoácidos , Animales , Evolución Molecular , VIH-1/genética , Humanos , Carioferinas/química , Ratones , Modelos Moleculares , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Células 3T3 NIH , Primates/genética , Estructura Terciaria de Proteína , Receptores Citoplasmáticos y Nucleares/química , Secuencias Repetitivas de Ácidos Nucleicos/genética , Alineación de Secuencia , Especificidad de la Especie , Proteína Exportina 1RESUMEN
DNA polymorphisms in a region on chromosome 5q33.1 which contains two genes, immunity related GTPase related family, M (IRGM) and zinc finger protein 300 (ZNF300), are associated with Crohn's disease (CD). The deleted allele of a 20 kb copy number variation (CNV) upstream of IRGM was recently shown to be in strong linkage disequilibrium (LD) with the CD-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms and is itself associated with CD (P < 0.01). The deletion was correlated with increased or reduced expression of IRGM in transformed cells in a cell line-dependent manner, and has been proposed as a likely causal variant. We report here that small insertion/deletion polymorphisms in the promoter and 5' untranslated region of IRGM are, together with the CNV, strongly associated with CD (P = 1.37 x 10(-5) to 1.40 x 10(-9)), and that the CNV and the 5'-untranslated region variant -308(GTTT)(5) contribute independently to CD susceptibility (P = 2.6 x 10(-7) and P = 2 x 10(-5), respectively). We also show that the CD risk haplotype is associated with a significant decrease in IRGM expression (P < 10(-12)) in untransformed lymphocytes from CD patients. Further analysis of these variants in a Japanese CD case-control sample and of IRGM expression in HapMap populations revealed that neither the IRGM insertion/deletion polymorphisms nor the CNV was associated with CD or with altered IRGM expression in the Asian population. This suggests that the involvement of the IRGM risk haplotype in the pathogenesis of CD requires gene-gene or gene-environment interactions which are absent in Asian populations, or that none of the variants analysed are causal, and that the true causal variants arose after the European-Asian split.