Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · 5d

The answer is yes. We expect to learn about the functions of saliva in humans through comparative investigations with other mammalian species, most importantly other primates.

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Reposted by Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠

Genome Biology and Evolution @genomebiolevol.bsky.social · 14d

Pajic, @gokcumenlab.bsky.social @spit-lab.bsky.social et al. explored the evolution of saliva-related SCPP genes, observing extensive diversification of SCPP genes within mammals, driven by gene duplications and losses.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf165

#genome #evolution #primates

SCPP gene presence/absence phylogeny. Blocks represent genes within the SCPP locus, color-coded by functional relevance: enamel (purple), milk (blue), saliva (yellow), and genes implicated in all three functions (red). The animal phylogeny is shown on the left with species silhouettes. Two primate species (baboon and green monkey) are depicted placing blocks representing saliva-related genes at the points in evolution where these genes emerged. Imagine designed in BioRender.

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Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · 12d

What have 🦷🦷 #TEETH 🦷🦷, 🥛 #MILK 🥛, and💧💧 #SALIVA 💧💧to do with each other? Ask PetarPajic, Luane Landau, and Omer Gokcumen @gokcumenlab.bsky.social ❗️

academic.oup.com/gbe/article-...

Saliva Protein Genes in Humans were Shaped During Primate Evolution

Abstract. Genes within the secretory calcium-binding phosphoprotein locus diversified along with the formation of a calcified skeleton in vertebrates, the

academic.oup.com

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Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · 20d

🦷🦷 #TEETH ❗️🦷🦷

La Brea Tar Pits & Museum @tarpits.org · 21d

🍖 Hungry for History? Fossils from the #TarPits reveal the diets of saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, and more—served straight from asphalt.

Take a bite into prehistory: bit.ly/TarPitsPD

Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · 25d

🦷🦷 #TEETH❗️🦷🦷

Fabien Lafuma @paleofab.bsky.social · Aug 1

🚨New PhD research published in PNAS!🚨

Combining fossils and lab experiments, we found that simple changes in tooth #development explain 6 million years of molar #evolution in #voles 🐭🦷

Shoutout to my coauthors @cnrs.fr @helsinki.fi @gtk-fi.bsky.social!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #FossilFriday

Six million years of vole dental evolution shaped by tooth development | PNAS

Morphological change occurs over macroevolutionary timescales under the action of natural selection and genetic drift combined with developmental p...

www.pnas.org

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Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · Sep 6

🦷🦷 #TEETH ❗️🦷🦷
Ghost sharks grow forehead teeth to help them have sex | EurekAlert! www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

Ghost sharks grow forehead teeth to help them have sex

Male “ghost sharks” — eerie deep-sea fish known as chimaeras that are related to sharks and rays — have a strange rod jutting from their foreheads, studded with sharp, retracta...

www.eurekalert.org

Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · Sep 5

🦷🦷 #TEETH ❗️🦷🦷
www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...

Behold the Gloriously Weird Spotted Ratfish. It Has Teeth on Its Forehead for Sex

Researchers have finally traced the origin of the spotted ratfish’s bizarre forehead teeth, which are used for mating

www.scientificamerican.com

Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · Sep 5

🦷🦷 #TEETH ❗️🦷🦷

Nature @nature.com · Sep 5

This study describes the oldest microbial DNA ever sequenced

go.nature.com/4nfIzcU

A mammoth toothache: bacterial community discovered in mouth of ancient mammal

Genetic-sequencing techniques have uncovered the oldest host-associated microbial DNA ever recorded — inside samples of teeth and bones from woolly and steppe mammoths.

go.nature.com

Reposted by Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠

Fernando Villanea @fervillanea.bsky.social · Aug 24

Thank you for the write-up @johnhawks.net in particular for dedicating space to explaining mucin structure and function.

The gene from Denisovan to Neanderthal to modern mucus
open.substack.com/pub/johnhawk...

The gene from Denisovan to Neanderthal to modern mucus

A “genetic sandwich” reveals how a block of DNA entered several populations successively and was affected by natural selection.

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠

Fernando Villanea @fervillanea.bsky.social · Aug 21

Our paper on the evolution of MUC19 in humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans is finally out today in Science!

This has been a six-year effort by 13 authors to weave together 3 separate but related evolutionary stories around this one gene (more on thread 🧵).

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The MUC19 gene: An evolutionary history of recurrent introgression and natural selection

We study the gene MUC19, for which some modern humans carry a Denisovan-like haplotype. MUC19 is a mucin, a glycoprotein that forms gels with various biological functions. We find diagnostic variants ...

www.science.org

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Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · Aug 16

🦷🦷 #TEETH ❗️🦷🦷

Kate Wong @katewong.bsky.social · Aug 13

Fossil teeth reveal a new species of human ancestor, one that co-existed with the earliest known members of our own genus. I love thinking about how, although Homo sapiens is the only human species around today, for most of human prehistory, multiple human species roamed the earth 🤯 🧪

Meet the Newly Discovered Human Ancestor Identified Just by Its Teeth

Ancient teeth found in Ethiopia belong to a never-before-seen species in the Australopithecus genus of human ancestors

www.scientificamerican.com

Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · Aug 16

🦷🦷 #TEETH ❗️🦷🦷

Dr. Win @paleowin.bsky.social · Aug 16

A #FossilFriday that’s #LiveFromTheField! I’m doing fieldwork in the Cenozoic deposits of Kyrgyzstan currently, we started out with a really cool Eocene site called Toru Aygyr. My best find was this little tooth!

Lower tooth in jaw fragment on weathered surface next to a scale bar.

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Reposted by Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠

Charikleia Karageorgiou (Clio) @evobioclio.bsky.social · Aug 15

Our latest preprint explores the evolution of the primate amylase locus, uncovering structural innovations, regulatory shifts and molecular convergence.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Convergent evolution through independent rearrangements in the primate amylase locus

Structurally complex regions of the genome are increasingly recognized as engines of evolutionary convergence due to their propensity to generate recurrent gene duplications that give rise to similar ...

www.biorxiv.org

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Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · Aug 12

www.buffalo.edu/ubnow/storie... ⭐️⭐️⭐️

UB oral biologists recognized on global stage

Patricia Diaz, Hyuk-Jae “Edward” Kwon and Frank Scannapieco have received "distinguished scientist" awards from the IADR.

www.buffalo.edu

Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · Aug 8

Congratulations, KeAndreya!
#glycotime
@keandreyam.bsky.social
share.google/G6jTNj5kL856...

Sialic Acid Identity Modulates Host Tropism of Sialoglycan-binding Viridans Group Streptococci

Microbial interactions with multiple species may expand the range of potential hosts, supporting both pathogen reservoirs and zoonotic spillover. Viri…

share.google

Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · Aug 3

❗️❗️❗️👄👄 #MOUTH 👄👄 🦷🦷 #TEETH 🦷🦷 💧💧 #SALIVA 💧💧🦠🦠 #MICROBIOME🦠🦠 🍭🍭 #glycotime 🍭🍭 ❗️❗️❗️

❗️We are hiring❗️Check out this full-time tenure track academic faculty position in the #UBSDM's Department of Oral Biology.

ms.spr.ly/6045sKrT9

Assistant Professor/Associate Professor, Oral Biology

The University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine (SDM) invites applications from qualified early- to mid-career oral health scientists and/or clinician-scientists for a full-time tenure track acade...

www.ubjobs.buffalo.edu

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Reposted by Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠

Erie County, NY @eriecounty.bsky.social · Jul 11

🎉 Today marks the 120th anniversary of the Niagara Movement, founded in Buffalo & Fort Erie in 1905 by W.E.B. Du Bois & other national black leaders. A precursor to NAACP, the group paved the way for the 20th century civil rights movement.

Learn more: discoverniagara.org/the-niagara-movement

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Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · Jul 10

🦷🦷 #TEETH ❗️🦷🦷

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

Eighteen million years of diverse enamel proteomes from the East African Rift - Nature

The isolation of dental proteins from fossils deposited 1.5 million to 18 million years ago in the Turkana Basin in Kenya, a tropical region, demonstrate the promise of dental enamel for palaeoproteom...

www.nature.com

Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · Jun 23

🦷🦷 #TEETH❕🦷🦷

Christina Warinner @christinawarinner.bsky.social · Jun 19

Dental calculus is such a treasure trove!

www.science.org/content/arti...

‘Dragon Man’ skull belongs to mysterious human relative

At long last, scientists have a nearly complete cranium from hominins known as Denisovans

www.science.org

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Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · Jun 21

Oral Biology - Yes, that’s us!
lnkd.in/enttGneU
Now hiring:
www.ubjobs.buffalo.edu/postings/57652

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Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · Apr 6

#AADOCR Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill to emphasize the importance of research and education in the dental, oral, and craniofacial sciences.
🦷🦷 #FundOralHealth 🦷🦷

Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · Jan 31

🦷🦷 #TEETH ‼️ 🦷🦷

John Hawks @johnhawks.net · Jan 30

Detail of a mammoth's molar showing the closely-stacked ridges of enamel alternating with softer dentine

Image: St John (Flickr)

Close up view of ridges of enamel on the occlusal surface of a mammoth's molar. Image: St John CC-BY

Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠 @spit-lab.bsky.social · Jan 31

🦷🦷 #TEETH ‼️ 🦷🦷

John Hawks @johnhawks.net · Jan 31

One of the interesting things about the teeth of Homo naledi is the high degree of chipping of the enamel. This tooth has a chip that became worn slightly around the edges as the tooth continued to be used during the individual's life. Chipping may mean they ate hard or gritty food items.

A closeup photo of a tooth surface showing a distinct chip in the enamel on the edge of the occlusal surface

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Reposted by Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠

John Hawks @johnhawks.net · Jan 19

The story of a fascinating ancient skull and the scientist who resorted to hiding it in his bedroom to keep it from being studied by Nazi anthropologists

johnhawks.net/weblog/a-loo...

A look at the fossil skull from Steinheim

The skull provides some of the best evidence for the ancestral population of Neandertals, and had a tumultuous history in the decades after its discovery.

johnhawks.net

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Reposted by Stefan Ruhl 🦷💧🦠

Christina Warinner @christinawarinner.bsky.social · Jan 20

Check out our new research in NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes on the surprising patterns of oral streptococci variation in humans and the clues they encode for understanding human evolution and the recent impacts of oral hygiene. A big congratulations to Irina Velsko! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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