scholarly journals Reconsidering the Loss of Evolutionary History: How Does Non-random Extinction Prune the Tree-of-Life?

2016 ◽  
pp. 57-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kowiyou Yessoufou ◽  
T. Jonathan Davies
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Tree Of Life

scholarly journals Understanding UCEs: A Comprehensive Primer on Using Ultraconserved Elements for Arthropod Phylogenomics

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Miles Zhang ◽  
Jason L Williams ◽  
Andrea Lucky
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Deep Time ◽  
Ultraconserved Elements ◽  
Background Theory ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Targeted Enrichment

Abstract Targeted enrichment of ultraconserved elements (UCEs) has emerged as a promising tool for inferring evolutionary history in many taxa, with utility ranging from phylogenetic and biogeographic questions at deep time scales to population level studies at shallow time scales. However, the methodology can be daunting for beginners. Our goal is to introduce UCE phylogenomics to a wider audience by summarizing recent advances in arthropod research, and to familiarize readers with background theory and steps involved. We define terminology used in association with the UCE approach, evaluate current laboratory and bioinformatic methods and limitations, and, finally, provide a roadmap of steps in the UCE pipeline to assist phylogeneticists in making informed decisions as they employ this powerful tool. By facilitating increased adoption of UCEs in phylogenomics studies that deepen our comprehension of the function of these markers across widely divergent taxa, we aim to ultimately improve understanding of the arthropod tree of life.

scholarly journals Understanding UCEs: A Comprehensive Primer on Using Ultraconserved Elements for Arthropod Phylogenomics

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanmeng Zhang ◽  
Jason Williams ◽  
Andrea Lucky
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Deep Time ◽  
Ultraconserved Elements ◽  
Background Theory ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Targeted Enrichment

Targeted enrichment of ultraconserved elements (UCE) has emerged as a promising tool for inferring evolutionary history in many taxa, with utility ranging from phylogenetic and phylogeographic questions at deep time scales to population level studies at shallow time scales. However, the methodology can be daunting for beginners. Our goal is to introduce UCE phylogenomics to a wider audience by summarizing recent advances in arthropod research, and to familiarize readers with background theory and steps involved. We define terminology used in association with the UCE approach, evaluate current laboratory and bioinformatic methods and limitations, and, finally, provide a roadmap of steps in the UCE pipeline to assist phylogeneticists in making informed decisions as they employ this powerful tool. By facilitating increased adoption of UCE in phylogenomics studies that deepen our comprehension of the function of these markers across widely divergent taxa, we aim to ultimately improve understanding of the arthropod tree of life.

scholarly journals Phylogeny of the Varidnaviria Morphogenesis Module: Congruence and Incongruence With the Tree of Life and Viral Taxonomy

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony C. Woo ◽  
Morgan Gaia ◽  
Julien Guglielmini ◽  
Violette Da Cunha ◽  
Patrick Forterre
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Dna Viruses ◽  
Origin And Evolution ◽  
Double Stranded Dna ◽  
Domains Of Life ◽  
History Of ◽  
Recent Classification ◽  
Jelly Roll

Double-stranded DNA viruses of the realm Varidnaviria (formerly PRD1-adenovirus lineage) are characterized by homologous major capsid proteins (MCPs) containing one (kingdom: Helvetiavirae) or two β-barrel domains (kingdom: Bamfordvirae) known as the jelly roll folds. Most of them also share homologous packaging ATPases (pATPases). Remarkably, Varidnaviria infect hosts from the three domains of life, suggesting that these viruses could be very ancient and share a common ancestor. Here, we analyzed the evolutionary history of Varidnaviria based on single and concatenated phylogenies of their MCPs and pATPases. We excluded Adenoviridae from our analysis as their MCPs and pATPases are too divergent. Sphaerolipoviridae, the only family in the kingdom Helvetiavirae, exhibit a complex history: their MCPs are very divergent from those of other Varidnaviria, as expected, but their pATPases groups them with Bamfordvirae. In single and concatenated trees, Bamfordvirae infecting archaea were grouped with those infecting bacteria, in contradiction with the cellular tree of life, whereas those infecting eukaryotes were organized into three monophyletic groups: the Nucleocytoviricota phylum, formerly known as the Nucleo-Cytoplasmic Large DNA Viruses (NCLDVs), Lavidaviridae (virophages) and Polintoviruses. Although our analysis mostly supports the recent classification proposed by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), it also raises questions, such as the validity of the Adenoviridae and Helvetiavirae ranking. Based on our phylogeny, we discuss current hypotheses on the origin and evolution of Varidnaviria and suggest new ones to reconcile the viral and cellular trees.

scholarly journals Nurturing a sustainable Open Tree of Life

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e25727
Author(s):  
Emily Jane McTavish ◽  
Mark Holder ◽  
Karen Cranston
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Collaborative Effort ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Phylogenetic Information ◽  
Life Project ◽  
Analysis Tools ◽  
Ready Access

The Open Tree of Life project is a collaborative effort to synthesize, share and update a comprehensive tree of life Fig. 1. We have completed a draft synthesis of a tree summarizing digitally available taxonomic and phylogenetic knowledge for all 2.6 million named species, available at tree.opentreeoflife.org Hinchliff et al. 2015. . . This tree provides ready access to phylogenetic information which can link together biodiversity data on the basis of what we know about relevant evolutionary history. Both the unified reference taxonomy Rees and Cranston 2017 and the published phylogenetic statements underlying the tree McTavish et al. 2015 are available and accessible online. Taxa in the phylogenies are mapped to the the reference taxonomy, which aligns Open Tree taxon identifiers to those from NCBI and GBIF, among several other taxonomy resources. The synthesis tree is revised as new data become available, and captures conflict and consensus across different published phylogenetic estimates. This undertaking requires both development of novel infrastructure and analysis tools, as well as community engagement with the Open Tree of Life project. I will discuss the challenges in and the progress towards achieving these goals.

scholarly journals Mammal extinctions and the increasing isolation of humans on the tree of life

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandrine Pavoine ◽  
Michael B. Bonsall ◽  
T. Jonathan Davies ◽  
Shelly Masi
Keyword(s):  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Direct And Indirect Effects ◽  
Powerful Predictor ◽  
Close Relatives ◽  
Species Being

AbstractA sixth great mass extinction is ongoing due to the direct and indirect effects of human pressures. However, not all lineages are impacted equally. As humans, we frequently believe that we hold a unique place on Earth. Here, we show that our current impacts on the natural world risk to heighten that expectation. Evolutionary proximity to Homo sapiens emerges as a powerful predictor of extinction risk among mammals. Our analysis shows that the species most closely related to H. sapiens are exposed to a large variety of threat types and that they may also have greater intrinsic sensitivity to threats. Pruning back the tree of life around us will lead to our species being among those with the fewest close relatives. We will erase our evolutionary history, forcing its uniqueness. If no action is taken, we will lose crucial biodiversity for the preservation of Earth ecosystems, and a key reference to what makes us human.

scholarly journals Evolution of the PRD1-adenovirus lineage: a viral tree of life incongruent with the cellular universal tree of life

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony C. Woo ◽  
Morgan Gaia ◽  
Julien Guglielmini ◽  
Violette Da Cunha ◽  
Patrick Forterre
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Capsid Proteins ◽  
Dna Viruses ◽  
Universal Tree ◽  
Double Stranded Dna ◽  
Domains Of Life ◽  
History Of ◽  
Jelly Roll

AbstractDouble-stranded DNA viruses of the PRD1-adenovirus lineage are characterized by homologous major capsid proteins containing one or two β-barrel domains known as the jelly roll folds. Most of them also share homologous packaging ATPases of the FtsK/HerA superfamily P-loop ATPases. Remarkably, members of this lineage infect hosts from the three domains of life, suggesting that viruses from this lineage could be very ancient and share a common ancestor. Here we analyzed the evolutionary history of these cosmopolitan viruses by inferring phylogenies based on single or concatenated genes. These viruses can be divided into two supergroups infecting either eukaryotes or prokaryotes. The latter can be further divided into two groups of bacterioviruses and one group of archaeoviruses. This viral tree is thus incongruent with the cellular tree of life in which Archaea are closer to Eukarya and more divergent from Bacteria. We discuss various evolutionary scenarios that could explain this paradox.

scholarly journals Comparative Phylogenomics, a Stepping Stone for Bird Biodiversity Studies

Diversity ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josefin Stiller ◽  
Guojie Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Genomic Data ◽  
Genome Project ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Long Read ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Genome Assemblies ◽  
Avian Genomes ◽  
Chromosome Level

Birds are a group with immense availability of genomic resources, and hundreds of forthcoming genomes at the doorstep. We review recent developments in whole genome sequencing, phylogenomics, and comparative genomics of birds. Short read based genome assemblies are common, largely due to efforts of the Bird 10K genome project (B10K). Chromosome-level assemblies are expected to increase due to improved long-read sequencing. The available genomic data has enabled the reconstruction of the bird tree of life with increasing confidence and resolution, but challenges remain in the early splits of Neoaves due to their explosive diversification after the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) event. Continued genomic sampling of the bird tree of life will not just better reflect their evolutionary history but also shine new light onto the organization of phylogenetic signal and conflict across the genome. The comparatively simple architecture of avian genomes makes them a powerful system to study the molecular foundation of bird specific traits. Birds are on the verge of becoming an extremely resourceful system to study biodiversity from the nucleotide up.

1. Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Bernard Wood
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Most Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Last Stage ◽  
Living Organisms

All living organisms are situated on a Tree of Life that began around three billion years ago. The Introduction explains that this VSI focuses on the last stage of the human evolutionary journey, the stage between the most recent common ancestor shared by chimpanzees/bonobos and modern humans (around six to eight million years ago) and present-day modern humans. The three objectives of this VSI are to try and explain how palaeoanthropologists go about the task of improving our understanding of human evolutionary history; to convey a sense of what we think we know about human evolutionary history; and to show where the major gaps in our knowledge are.

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