Diverse commensal populations are now regarded as key to physiological homeostasis and
protection against disease. Although bacteria are the most abundant component of …

We survive because we adapted to a world of microorganisms. All our epithelial surfaces
participate in keeping up an effective barrier against microbes while not initiating ongoing …

Genome-wide association studies and comparative genomics have established major loci
and specific polymorphisms affecting human skin, hair and eye color. Environmental …

Defensins represent an evolutionary ancient family of antimicrobial peptides that play
diverse roles in human health and disease. Defensins are cationic cysteine-containing …

Recent studies in humans and other model organisms have demonstrated that structural
variants (SVs) comprise a substantial proportion of variation among individuals of each …

Abstract β‐Defensins are cationic host defense peptides that form an amphipathic structure
stabilized by three intramolecular disulfide bonds. They are key players in innate and …

INTRODUCTION Characterizing genetic variants underlying local adaptations in human
populations is one of the central goals of evolutionary research. Most studies have focused …

Antimicrobial peptides and proteins (AMPs) are widespread in the living kingdom. They are
key effectors of defense reactions and mediators of competitions between organisms. They …

Over the past decade, the ubiquity of copy number variants (CNVs, the gain or loss of
genomic material) in the genomes of healthy humans has become apparent. Although some …

Defensins are short, rapidly evolving, cationic antimicrobial host defence peptides with a
repertoire of functions, still incompletely realised, that extends beyond direct microbial …