Genome size evolution
Closely related organisms can carry very different amounts of DNA. What determines how genomes expand or shrink?
Genetics
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Mitochondrial DNA bottleneck
A mother’s mix of mitochondrial DNA variants can change sharply between generations. What physical sampling process drives that change?
Mammalian replication origins
Mammalian DNA replication can begin at many licensed sites. What determines which sites actually start copying in a given cell?
Mitochondrial gene retention
Mitochondria keep some genes while many others reside in the nucleus. Why do different lineages retain different sets?
Meiotic homologue recognition
During egg formation in fruit flies, matching chromosomes must find one another. How do repeated DNA sequences help them recognize a match?
Polyploid establishment
A plant with extra chromosome sets may have few compatible mates. Which conditions let a new polyploid population persist?
Segregation Distorter mechanism
A selfish chromosome in fruit flies disables competing sperm. How does its genetic machinery cause that selective failure?
Speciation with gene flow
New species can diverge while exchanging genes. How do reproductive barriers combine to sustain separation?
Oxytricha genome rearrangement
Oxytricha rebuilds its working genome from scrambled DNA segments. How do RNA instructions become correctly ordered DNA joins?
De novo gene birth
New protein-coding genes can arise from DNA that did not previously encode a protein. Which ones become useful and persist through evolution?
S-RNase specificity
A Petunia flower can stop its own pollen while accepting pollen with a different mating type. How does a small team of pollen proteins distinguish so many versions of the same toxic enzyme?
Agaricus somatic incompatibility
Two button-mushroom colonies can meet and form a zone of dead cells. Which recognition products make their shared cytoplasm incompatible?
RNA silencing inheritance duration
A worm can stop making a fluorescent protein, and its descendants can remain dark after the original trigger is gone. What determines when the inherited silencing ends?