Analysis of chromerid algal genomes reveals how apicomplexans have evolved from free-living algae into successful eukaryotic parasites via massive losses and re-inventing functional roles of genes.
An analysis of gene dosage at the DNA, RNA and protein level yields new insights into the early stages of Z-chromosome dosage compensation in schistosome parasites.
A phylogeny of all major groups of flatworms based on hundreds of genes sheds new light the early evolution of this important metazoan phylum, with particular significance for the original of vertebrate parasitism.
Mechanisms that enable wild mice to survive infection with strains of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite virulent enough to kill laboratory mice offer an explanation for how these parasites have been able to persist in the mouse population.
Genomic data for the parasites that cause visceral leishmaniasis provides the first global picture of the diversity and evolution of the pathogen and the epidemiology of this fatal tropical disease.
The synthesis capability of some amino acids is lost during the insect evolution, and hymenopteran parasitoids can make up for these deficiencies by altering free amino acid concentrations in host.
The switch from ubiquinone to rhodoquinone synthesis that is required for parasitic helminths to survive in anaerobic host tissues is due to alternative splicing of polyprenyltransferase COQ-2.
Hybridization and introgression blur species boundaries and broaden genetic diversity available for adaptation; and widespread introgression underpins the evolution of races of the generalist pathogen Albugo candida that specialise on different host plant species.
The wtf meiotic drivers change the fitness landscape of meiosis in outcrossed Schizosaccharomyces pombe demonstrating that genetic parasites can favor the evolution of variants that disrupt meiotic fidelity.
