Facultative parthenogenesis: a transient state in transitions between sex and obligate asexuality in stick insects? by Larose, Chloé, Lavanchy, Guillaume, Freitas, Susana, Parker, Darren J., Schwander, Tanja

“…Transitions from obligate sex to obligate parthenogenesis have occurred repeatedly across the tree of life. Whether these transitions occur abruptly or via a transient phase of facultative parthenogenesis is rarely known. …”
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What can be lost? Genomic perspective on the lipid metabolism of Mucoromycota by Blanka Sokołowska, Małgorzata Orłowska, Alicja Okrasińska, Sebastian Piłsyk, Julia Pawłowska, Anna Muszewska

“…This enabled us to explore the genomic basis of the previously documented ability to produce several types of lipids within the fungal tree of life. The core lipid metabolism genes showed no significant diversity in distribution, however specialized lipid metabolic pathways differed in this regard among different fungal lineages. …”
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Evidence that the domesticated fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorus recycles its cytoplasmic contents as nutritional rewards to feed its leafcutter ant farmers by Caio Ambrosio Leal-Dutra, Lok Man Yuen, Bruno Augusto Maciel Guedes, Marta Contreras-Serrano, Pedro Elias Marques, Jonathan Zvi Shik

“…While autophagy is a ubiquitous and often highly derived process across the tree of life, our study reveals a new role for autophagy as a mechanism of functional integration between ant farmers and their fungal crop, and potentially as a signifier of higher-level homeostasis between uniquely life-time committed ectosymbionts.…”
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Comparative transcriptomics reveal stage-dependent parasitic adaptations in the myxozoan Sphaerospora molnari by Monika M. Wiśniewska, Jiří Kyslík, Gema Alama-Bermejo, Alena Lövy, Martin Kolísko, Astrid S. Holzer, Anush Kosakyan

“…Abstract Background Parasitism as a life strategy has independently evolved multiple times within the eukaryotic tree of life. Each lineage has developed mechanisms to invade hosts, exploit resources, and ensure replication, but our knowledge of survival mechanisms in many parasitic taxa remain extremely limited. …”
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