Annika Johns

TL;DR: A general mechanistic model for the evolution of exaggerated traits is presented, proposing that sensitivity to the insulin response pathway can explain variation among individuals and illustrating how enhanced sensitivity to insulin/IGF signaling in a growing ornament or weapon would cause heightened condition sensitivity and increased variability in expression among individuals.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the fate of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) residues with prolonged arable cropping in coarse textured soils in a subtropical savannah assuming that glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP), especially the MAb32B11-immunoreactive fraction, mainly constitutes material of AMF origin.

TL;DR: RNAseq analysis is used to build on recent work exploring mechanisms in the exaggerated weapons of beetles, by examining patterns of differential gene expression in exaggerated and non‐exaggerated traits in the Asian rhinoceros beetle, Trypoxylus dichotomus, to suggest that sexually dimorphic expression of weaponry involves large‐scale changes in gene expression, relative to other traits, while nutrition‐driven changes inGene expression in these same weapons are less pronounced.

TL;DR: Using 454 pyrosequencing, transcriptome profiles are generated during horn growth and development in two different scarab beetle species: the Asian rhinoceros beetle, Trypoxylus dichotomus, and the dung beetle, Onthophagus nigriventris to look for signatures of molecular evolution.