Abstract. Age and sex have been found to be important determinants of the mutation rate per generation in mammals, but the mechanisms underlying these fact

Plants deploy receptor-like cytoplasmic kinases (RLCKs) and the immune hub protein RIN4 to coordinate PAMPs-triggered immunity (PTI). Here, we show that BIK1, but not its close homolog PBL1, dynamical...

Plants deploy a diverse array of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), which perceive microbe-associated molecular patterns to activate immune responses. Leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase subgr...

Plant cells are totipotent, meaning individual cells have the potential to develop into a full organism, a property unique to the zygote for animals. However, in most species for most cells, plant cells are not spontaneously totipotent, since they must be treated with specific hormone combinations to unlock their totipotency. Species within the Kalanchoe genus is unique as they spontaneously develop foliar embryos that are fully realized plantlets with shoot and root from notches along the edges of leaves. We speculate that the progenitor cells that give rise to these foliar embryos are totipotent, and we are using single cell techniques to identify & characterize them. In addition to being a fundamental process for plant biology, we foresee unlocking totipotency has many biotechnological applications, such as faciliating genetic transformation and the development of synthetic organs of biomanufacturing.

Abstract. Horizontal gene transfers (HGT) have been observed across the tree of life. While their adaptive importance in bacteria is conspicuous, the occur

Sex differences have captivated scientists for a long time, yet the evolutionary rate of change in sex-biased gene expression has not been directly quantified. To address this issue, we leverage brain...

AlphaFold’s ipTM metric is used to predict the accuracy of structural predictions of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) and the probability that two proteins interact. Many AF2/AF3 users have experie...

Small and fragmented populations are at high risk of local extinction, in part because of elevated inbreeding and subsequent inbreeding depression....

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 ...

Evolutionary histories of effector proteins secreted by fungal pathogens to mediate plant colonization remain largely elusive. While most functionally characterized effectors modulate plant immunity, ...

Protein evolution is influenced by historical contingencies and functional constraints, but their combined impact on rapidly diversifying pathogen virulence effectors remains poorly understood. Here, ...