Guarding Hosts from Parasite Attack – The Rapid Evolution of a Defensive Mutualism

How do organisms protect themselves against harmful parasites? One way might be to form mutualistic relationships with microbes who help defend their host. A new study, published in Evolution Letters, has demonstrated that beneficial co-dependent relationships can evolve remarkably quickly between hosts and bacteria, with important positive effects on host health. Luke Turner reports: Organisms …

Hybrid Incompatibilities Stop Selfish Sex Chromosomes Flying North

A new study published in Evolution Letters has demonstrated a crucial role for genetic incompatibility in preventing the spread of selfish sex chromosomes across populations. Science blogger Luke Turner tells us more. Competition between genes can be fierce in the battle to be expressed in the next generation. While this is often manifested as competition …

Sexy sons and greenbeards

In our latest author blog, Gonçalo Faria explains how his new paper in Evolution Letters investigates the connections between two classic ideas in evolutionary biology: the "sexy son hypothesis" and the "greenbeard effect". Two major theories dominate contemporary evolutionary biology: sexual selection, which concerns how natural selection can work through differences in mating success; and …