Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Rob Waterhouse @rmwaterhouse.bsky.social · Sep 6

Molecular evolution of dietary shifts in ladybirds 🐞 expansions of digestive & detoxifying #gene families in the herbivorous ladybirds, & absence of most plant cell wall-degrading enzymes in the ladybirds from the transition to carnivory link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Molecular evolution of dietary shifts in ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae): from fungivory to carnivory and herbivory - BMC Biology

Background Dietary shifts are major evolutionary steps that shape ecological niches and biodiversity. The beetle family Coccinellidae, commonly known as ladybirds, first transitioned from a fungivorou...

link.springer.com

13 26

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Molecular Biology and Evolution @molbioevol.bsky.social · Sep 5

Red devil spiders from the Canary Islands have a genome half the size of mainland counterparts - Pisarenco, @jrozasub.bsky.social et al. show how purifying selection against slightly deleterious DNA and TE insertions is the primary mechanism.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf206

#evobio #molbio #TEsky

How Did Evolution Halve Genome Size During an Oceanic Island Colonization?

Abstract. Red devil spiders of the genus Dysdera colonized the Canary Islands and underwent an extraordinary diversification. Notably, their genomes are ne

doi.org

21 36

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

The Lambrechts Lab @lambrechtslab.bsky.social · Aug 28

Does #dengue virus hijack #mosquitoes' brain? Study led by Felix Hol @pasteur.fr discovered that infected mosquitoes take smaller blood meals. As a result, they bite more often, and potentially infect infect more people.

(video in French with English subtitles available)
youtu.be/2u_qckfAQa4?...

La dengue aux commandes

YouTube video by Institut Pasteur

youtu.be

7 27

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Science Magazine @science.org · Aug 26

Dogs are humanity's best friend—but how long has it been that way? 🐕

This Science study investigated ancient dog genomes, revealing a complicated genetic legacy that reflects a long, shared history with humans.

Learn more on #InternationalDogDay: https://scim.ag/41mQvR6

1 34 87

Mathieu Gautier @mgda76.bsky.social · Aug 26

For those interested: 🚀 BayPass v3.1 released!
🔹 Improved MCMC adaptive phase
🔹 Computation reduced >6X with default (recommended) options, while keeping similar accuracy
🔹 Plus other minor edits

📖 Details in the manual / changelog
🔗 Repo: forge.inrae.fr/mathieu.gaut...

GAUTIER Mathieu / baypass public · GitLab

GitLab Community Edition

forge.inrae.fr

12 16

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Chris Buckley @chrisbuckley.bsky.social · Aug 23

interesting pre-print arxiv.org/abs/2408.07300

Deeply nested structure of mythological traditions worldwide

All human societies present unique narratives that shape their customs and beliefs. Despite cultural differences, some symbolic elements (e.g., heroes and tricksters) are common across many cultures. ...

arxiv.org

4 4

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Joaquin Nunez @jcbnunez.bsky.social · Aug 19

doi.org/10.1093/molb...
Thrilled to share our new paper in MBE! 🎉 Presenting DEST 2.0: 530 pooled Drosophila populations spanning 12 years across 6 continents. We map genomic footprints of adaptation, from pesticide resistance to seasonal changes. #PopulationGenetics #Drosophila #Genomics #Evolution

Footprints of Worldwide Adaptation in Structured Populations of Drosophila melanogaster Through the Expanded DEST 2.0 Genomic Resource

Abstract. Large-scale genomic resources can place genetic variation into an ecologically informed context. To advance our understanding of the population g

doi.org

1 13 26

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · Aug 7

If someone you know buys into claims about "genetic optimization" of embryos using polygenic scores of cognition, just send them our 2024 paper on Beethoven & musicality. We wrote it to help communicate limits of individual-level genetic predictions & complexity of links between DNA & behaviour. 🧪👇

Notes from Beethoven’s genome

Wesseldijk et al. compare the genomic information collected from Ludwig van Beethoven with population-based datasets used to quantify musical achievement.

www.cell.com

7 88 180

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Genetics Society of America @genetics-gsa.bsky.social · Jul 25

In #GENETICS, Williams et al. present a novel statistics—haplotype score—for summarizing identity-by-descent (IBD) sharing that can distinguish half-sibling pairs from avuncular or grandparent-grandchildren pairs and assign individuals to ancestor vs descendant generation.

buff.ly/SaZP3CA

13 20

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Benoit Nabholz @benoitevol.bsky.social · Jul 19

In @elife.bsky.social: Effective population size does not explain long-term variation in genome size and transposable element content in animals doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

Effective population size does not explain long-term variation in genome size and transposable element content in animals

A large-scale survey across animals reveals no general association between genome size expansion and the relaxation of natural selection.

doi.org

1 14 27

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Richard McElreath 🐈‍⬛ @rmcelreath.bsky.social · Jul 9

How can we reform science? I have some ideas. But I am not sure you’ll like them, because they don’t promise much. elevanth.org/blog/2025/07...

Which Kind of Science Reform

What hope is there for science reform, if we can't agree on what to reform? Right now, principles are more important than practices.

elevanth.org

16 130 280

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Tugce Aktas @aktast.bsky.social · Jun 30

We wrote a review on Transposable Elements (TEs) and almost all aspects of TE silencing and their roles in biological processes & disease.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of transposable elements and their roles in development and disease - Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology

Transposable elements (TEs) comprise nearly half of the human genome. This Review discusses transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms that repress TE activity, how TEs escape this suppressio...

www.nature.com

2 69 140

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Prof Richard Buggs @rbuggs.bsky.social · Jun 27

Thanks Kew!
The paper itself can be found here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Kew Gardens @rbgkew.bsky.social · Jun 27

BIG NEWS! We’ve found that ash trees are fighting back against ash dieback disease! 🌳💪

Scientists at Kew & QMUL ‪@qmul.bsky.social have discovered that young ash trees are evolving resistance to this devastating fungus - & fast 🌍

Read the story👉 www.kew.org/read-and-wat...

#PlantScience #SciNews

1 13 21

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Current Biology @currentbiology.bsky.social · Jun 19

Is a world without #beer, #wine #sake #bread, #cheese livable or even imaginable?

All of these delights & more, we owe to the domestication of one particular kind of #fungi by our ancestors.

Jose Paulo Sampaio & Ana Pontes review the biology of #yeast domestication

www.cell.com/current-biol...

12 31

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra @jrossibarra.bsky.social · Jun 17

Yay! @genomeofforrest.bsky.social work published today in PLoS Genetics. Forrest took a large maize common garden dataset and asked whether Environmental GWAS was actually useful for predicting which individuals would have highest fitness. Turns out, the answer is no. 1/2

Environmental data provide marginal benefit for predicting climate adaptation

Author summary Populations of natural and cultivated plant and animal populations will be affected by more extreme climate events such as drought and flooding in the future. We explore whether charact...

journals.plos.org

3 9 39

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Molly Gale (Gale-Hammell Lab) @mollygale.bsky.social · Jun 16

🧬🌽 Happy Transposon Day! 🌽🧬

Today we celebrate the birthday of Barbara McClintock - scientist extraordinaire and discoverer of jumping genes. Still the only woman to have an unshared Nobel Prize in the biomedical sciences #TransposonDay2025

5 190 480

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Nicolas Berrod @nicolasberrod.bsky.social · Jun 13

❗🦟 Info @leparisien.fr : deuxième cas autochtone de #chikungunya en France hexagonale, cette fois à Prades-le-Lez dans l'Hérault (le premier était dans le Var).

Ils vont vraisemblablement se multiplier cet été, au vu du grand nombre de cas importés - notamment de La Réunion.

1/n

2 22 37

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Charles Perrier @charles-perrier.bsky.social · Jun 13

Here we used population genomics to investigate a well-known case of allochronic divergence, reconstructing demographic history, assessing inbreeding and genetic load, and identifying loci associated with allochrony. @cbgpmontpellier.bsky.social

Population genomics of incipient allochronic divergence in the Pine Processionary Moth

Allochronic divergence is a key evolutionary mechanism that can frequently lead to incipient speciation. Although theoretical models suggest that such divergence is notably facilitated by small popula...

www.biorxiv.org

1 4 6

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Rob Waterhouse @rmwaterhouse.bsky.social · Jun 13

Nucleotide diversity 🧬 and k-mer-based metrics of genetic diversity across 112 plant 🌱 species, amounting to over 205 terabases of DNA sequencing data from 27,488 individuals academic.oup.com/evlett/advan... #biodiversity #genomics

k-mer-based diversity scales with population size proxies more than nucleotide diversity in a meta-analysis of 98 plant species

Abstract. A key prediction of neutral theory is that the level of genetic diversity in a population should scale with population size. However, as was note

academic.oup.com

1 5

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Pitchfork @pitchfork.com · Jun 9

Legendary singer, songwriter, and musician Sly Stone has died

Sly Stone, Legendary Funk Musician, Dies at 82

The artist made his mark on the American music landscape with his band Sly and the Family Stone

pitchfork.com

25 250 860

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

FlyBase @flybase.bsky.social · Jun 3

We currently have a call for support that has gone out to European labs, to support FlyBase-UK. We are asking our colleagues from labs in the US and other countries to wait for a similar call to them that will go out in the near future, to support the US sites. We thank you for your patience.

Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · Jun 3

URGENT: FlyBase has lost practically all its funding overnight; even user fees are tied up in denied grant funding. 🤬🤯

Any lab using @flybase.bsky.social please donate using the link in post below.

This incredible community, on whose backs our #Drosophila labs depend, can't be left out to dry.

Marc Dionne @marcsdionne.bsky.social · Jun 3

My lab studies bacterial infections. We spend a lot of time looking at (or for) species-specific genetic and genomic databases for hosts and microbes. FlyBase is the best of all—there is literally no comparison. Its existence is under threat. Please donate.
www.philanthropy.cam.ac.uk/give-to-camb...

120 83

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Justin Blumenstiel @bdelloid.bsky.social · Apr 26

The rest of Mendel's alleles characterized! So, out of 7 traits, 3 caused by TE insertions!!! (though apparently there are two different green alleles, one cause by a TE insertion, but another a promoter deletion allele)

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Genomic and genetic insights into Mendel’s pea genes - Nature

Characterization of the genetic architecture underlying the 7 pairs of contrasting traits studied by Mendel and the over 70 additional agronomic traits in pea (Pisum sativum) reveals their m...

www.nature.com

1 60 130

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

David Enard @denard.bsky.social · Apr 25

Fun collaboration with Mélodie Bastian and Nicolas Lartillot. Pi_S and Pi_N/Pi_S extracted from genome assemblies follow nearly neutral predictions across 150 mammals. Getting closer to getting the constraint controls needed to detect ancient epidemics mammals-wide.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Empirical validation of the nearly neutral theory at divergence and population genomic scale using 150 mammals genomes

By limiting the efficacy of selection on mutations of small effects, random drift is expected to play a major role in the evolution of genomes. Formalizing this idea, the nearly-neutral theory predict...

www.biorxiv.org

1 13 19

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

Katharina Hoff @katharinahoff.bsky.social · Apr 21

Annotation of 200 insect genomes. Work driven by @stepbystepsolution.bsky.social and Mario Stanke within @gevol.bsky.social : www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Annotation of 200 Insect Genomes with BRAKER for Consistent Comparisons across Species

The annotation of genomes lags behind their sequencing and assembly. For example, of 5,092 insect species in GenBank, as one of the most widely used databases, only 375 currently have annotated genome...

www.biorxiv.org

1 26 39

Reposted by Mathieu Gautier

bioRxiv Genomics @biorxiv-genomic.bsky.social · Apr 16

Comparative gene annotation of 304 species of Drosophilidae https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.14.648771v1

3 4