In this work we review the current knowledge on the prehistory, origins, and evolution of
spliceosomal introns. First, we briefly outline the major features of the different types of …

The study of the evolutionary origin of vertebrates has been linked to the study of genome
duplications since Susumo Ohno suggested that the successful diversification of vertebrate …

The order of genes in eukaryotic genomes has generally been assumed to be neutral, since
gene order is largely scrambled over evolutionary time. Only a handful of exceptional …

Cell biologists typically focus on conserved regions of a protein, overlooking innovations that
can shape its function over evolutionary time. Computational analyses can reveal potential …

While much of evolutionary biology attempts to explain the processes of diversification, there
is an important place for the study of phenotypic similarity across life forms. When similar …

Orthologous genes involved in the formation of proteins associated with memory acquisition
are similarly expressed in forebrain centres that exhibit similar cognitive properties. These …

Replicated ecological gradients are prime systems to study processes of molecular
evolution underlying ecological divergence. Here, we investigated the repeated adaptation …

Background Insertions/deletions (indels) in protein sequences are useful as drug targets,
protein structure predictors, species diagnostics and evolutionary markers. However there is …

Alanine-rich α-helical (type I) antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are produced by a variety of fish
species from three different orders to protect against freezing in icy seawater. Interspersed …

Recurrent evolution can involve interspecific interactions, recognized to play a primary role
in the diversification and organization of life. Both in the plant and animal kingdoms, the …