For the past 20 years, the Clusters of Orthologous Genes (COG) database had been a
popular tool for microbial genome annotation and comparative genomics. Initially created for …

Background The interplay between hosts and their associated microbiome is now
recognized as a fundamental basis of the ecology, evolution, and development of both …

The diversification of microbial populations may be driven by many factors including
adaptation to distinct ecological niches and barriers to recombination. We examined the …

The most abundant aquatic microbes are small in cell and genome size. Genome-
streamlining theory predicts gene loss caused by evolutionary selection driven by …

Abstract Background The blood clam, Scapharca (Anadara) broughtonii, is an economically
and ecologically important marine bivalve of the family Arcidae. Efforts to study their …

Abstract Background Yellowhorn (Xanthoceras sorbifolium) is a species of the Sapindaceae
family native to China and is an oil tree that can withstand cold and drought conditions. A …

Crop weediness, especially that of weedy rice (Oryza sativa f. spontanea), remains
mysterious. Weedy rice possesses robust ecological adaptability; however, how this strain …

Persimmon (Diospyros kaki) is an oriental perennial woody fruit tree whose popular fruit is
produced and consumed worldwide. The persimmon fruit is unique because of the …

Leaf herbivory on tea plants (Camellia sinensis) by tea geometrids (Ectropis oblique)
severely threaten the yield and quality of tea. In previous work, we found that local defense …

Abstract The Black Sea is the largest meromictic sea with a reservoir of anoxic water
extending from 100 to 1000 m depth. These deeper layers are characterised by a poorly …