More Like this

1. The long and short of the S ‐locus in Turnera (Passifloraceae)

   https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15970  

   Shore, Joel S.; Hamam, Hasan J.; Chafe, Paul D. J.; Labonne, Jonathan D. J.; Henning, Paige M.; McCubbin, Andrew G. (July 2019, New Phytologist)

   Summary Distyly is an intriguing floral adaptation that increases pollen transfer precision and restricts inbreeding. It has been a model system in evolutionary biology since Darwin. Although theS‐locus determines the long‐ and short‐styled morphs, the genes were unknown inTurnera. We have now identified these genes.We used deletion mapping to identify, and then sequence,BACclones and genome scaffolds to constructS/shaplotypes. We investigated candidate gene expression, hemizygosity, and used mutants, to explore gene function.Thes‐haplotype possessed 21 genes collinear with a region of chromosome 7 of grape. TheS‐haplotype possessed three additional genes and two inversions.TsSPH1was expressed in filaments and anthers,TsYUC6in anthers andTsBAHDin pistils. Long‐homostyle mutants did not possessTsBAHDand a short‐homostyle mutant did not expressTsSPH1.Three hemizygous genes appear to determine S‐morph characteristics inT. subulata. Hemizygosity is common to all distylous species investigated, yet the genes differ. The pistil candidate gene,TsBAHD, differs from that ofPrimula, but both may inactivate brassinosteroids causing short styles.TsYUC6is involved in auxin synthesis and likely determines pollen characteristics.TsSPH1is likely involved in filament elongation. We propose an incompatibility mechanism involvingTsYUC6andTsBAHD. 

   more » « less
2. Anomaly in the Opacity of the Post-reionization Intergalactic Medium in the Ly α and Ly β Forest

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab2b3f  

   Eilers, Anna-Christina; Hennawi, Joseph F.; Davies, Frederick B.; Oñorbe, Jose (August 2019, The Astrophysical Journal)
3. Evolution and future of urban ecological science: ecology in , of , and for the city

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ehs2.1229  

   Pickett, Steward T.; Cadenasso, Mary L.; Childers, Daniel L.; McDonnell, Mark J.; Zhou, Weiqi (July 2016, Ecosystem Health and Sustainability)
4. An in vivo proteomic analysis of the Me31B interactome in Drosophila germ granules

   https://doi.org/10.1002/1873-3468.12854  

   DeHaan, Hunter; McCambridge, Aidan; Armstrong, Brittany; Cruse, Carlie; Solanki, Dhruv; Trinidad, Jonathan C.; Arkov, Alexey L.; Gao, Ming (November 2017, FEBS Letters)
5. LEAFY demonstrates functions in reproductive development of the gametophyte but not the sporophyte of the fern Ceratopteris richardii

   https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.204808  

   McConnell, Hannah; Lanclos, Jancee_R; Willis, Katelynn; Gjording, Nicholas; Stockmann, Genevieve; Lind, Catalina; Maloof, Julin_N; Plackett, Andrew_R_G; Di_Stilio, Verónica_S (November 2025, Development)

   Flowers are a key reproductive innovation of the angiosperms. Seed plant reproductive axes (including flowers) evolved as reproductively specialized shoots of the land plant diploid sporophyte, with the gamete-producing haploid gametophyte becoming reduced and enclosed within ovules and microsporangia. The transcription factor LEAFY (LFY) initiates floral development, yet it predates flowers and is found across all land plants. LFY function outside angiosperms is known from the moss Physcomitrium patens, where it controls the first cell division of the sporophyte, and from the model fern Ceratopteris richardii, a seedless vascular plant where CrLFY1 and CrLFY2 maintain vegetative meristem activity. However, how LFY’s floral role evolved remains unclear. Using over-expression, we uncover new roles for CrLFY1/2 in fern gametophyte reproduction, in sperm cells and in the gametophyte's multicellular notch meristem. While no sporophytic reproductive function was detected in terms of time to sporing, over-expression supports a role in frond compounding and in the zygote's first cell division. Our findings suggest a potentially ancestral LFY function in fern haploid-stage reproduction, which might have been co-opted into the sporophyte during the origin of the flower. 

   more » « less