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For a comprehensive review of the most interesting recent articles published in the biological sciences, visit Faculty of 1000 Biology, an online literature awareness tool published by BioMed Central. Faculty of 1000 Biology systematically highlights exciting recent publications on the basis of recommendations of a faculty of well over 1,000 of the world's leading researchers. |
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C. Graham Clark
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom
MICROBIOLOGY
 New Finding
 Controversial
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Meiosis is a unique innovation in eukaryotes but its origins have never been clear; this paper suggests that it may have already been present in some form in the common ancestor of all eukaryotes. The authors looked for the presence of meiosis-specific genes in ongoing genome projects for a number of protists, including Giardia which is often touted as an early eukaryotic lineage. In each protist studied (kinetoplastids, Plasmodium and Entamoeba in addition to Giardia) a similar set of 'core' meiotic genes was found. The result not only suggests an early origin of meiosis in eukaryotes but also that 'cryptic' sexual cycles may exist in organisms whose reproduction was previously thought to be exclusively asexual.
Evaluated 28 Feb 2005 |
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Debashish Bhattacharya
University of Iowa, United States of America
GENOMICS & GENETICS
New Finding
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Bacterial-sized planktonic eukaryotes (picoeukaryotes) such as the photoautotroph Ostreococcus tauri offer an excellent model for understanding genome compression. Here, the authors identify the core cell cycle genes of O. tauri. The highly reduced genomes (e.g. 12.4 Mbp in O. tauri) in these free-living species can help us identify the minimal gene set required for many cellular processes. Consistent with this idea, the O. tauri genome contains the simplest (yet complete) set of core cell cycle genes reported thus far.
Evaluated 2 Mar 2005 |
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James Stivers
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, United States of America
CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
New Finding
 Tech Advance
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This article describes a generally useful multicopy gene suppression strategy to screen for genes that can suppress the effects of small molecule inhibitors of yeast growth. This screen is based on the principle that cells which express increased levels of a small molecule target should confer resistance to the small molecule. The screen is capable of indentifying both general and molecule specific suppressors in a high throughput manner, allowing the rapid deconvolution of targets that are linked by their ability to confer resistance to a common small molecule. Thus, this method allows quick identification of nonspecific resistance genes such as efflux pumps, as well as other protein targets that operate within a common biochemical pathway.
Evaluated 8 Mar 2005 |
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Sandra Knapp
The Natural History Museum, United Kingdom
PLANT BIOLOGY
 Confirmation
New Finding
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I found this paper fascinating because it shows just how much we still have to discover about the "natural history" of eukaryotic genomes. Polyploidy is a potent force in angiosperm evolution, and many model organisms (Arabidopsis, Nicotiana, Oryza among them) have been shown to be ancient polyploids. Here, the authors show, using shotgun sequencing from a second subspecies of rice, how genome change is an ongoing process involving a wide range of changes, from ancient, large scale duplication followed by large-scale rearrangements and deletions, to smaller scale, more recent duplications and additional rearrangements. They conclude that polyploidization is still ongoing in grasses of polyploid origins - an intriguing thought!
Evaluated 1 Mar 2005 |
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Russell Hill
University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, United States of America
MICROBIOLOGY
Confirmation
New Finding
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This is the first genome-wide investigation of circadian gene expression in a prokaryote. Cyanobacteria are the only bacterial species known to have a circadian clock and this study revealed genes (2% and 9% under stringent and relaxed filtering conditions, respectively) that exhibited circadian rhythms. Expression of most cycling genes with diverse physiological function including metabolic pathways, membrane transport and signal transduction, peaked at the time of transition from subjective day to night. Circadian regulation of sugar metabolism was found and is therefore conserved from bacteria to animals, suggesting that it plays a critical role in survival.
Evaluated 8 Mar 2005 |
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