Virtually all multicellular organisms host a community of symbionts composed of mutualistic, commensal, and pathogenic microbes, i.e., their microbiome. The mechanism of selection on host-microbe assemblages remains contentious, particularly regarding whether selection acts differently on hosts and their microbial symbionts. Here, we attempt to reconcile these viewpoints using a model that desc...

Engraftment of allogeneic bone marrow (BM) has been shown to induce tolerance to organs genotypically matched with the BM donor. Immune reconstitution after BM transplantation therefore involves re-establishment of a T cell pool tolerant to antigens present on both donor and host tissues. However, how hematopoietic grafts exert their influence over the regenerating immune system is not complete...

These articles present unique innovative research, computational methods, and selected results and examples. In “Sentiment Quantifi cation,” Andrea Esuli and Fabrizio Sebastiani argue that the opinionmining community has traditionally neglected whether the analysis of large quantities of text should be carried out at the individual or aggregate level. They review several sentimentquantifi catio...

Eruptive forest insects are highly influential agents of change in forest ecosystems, and their effects have increased with recent climate change. State-dependent life histories contribute significantly to the population dynamics of eruptive forest insect herbivores; however, the proximate mechanisms by which these species shift between states is poorly understood. Laboratory bioassays were con...

Previous studies have shown that negative selection of T cells to sheep erythrocytes (SRC) after adoptive transfer to irradiated mice requires a sharing of H-2 determinants between the donor T cells and the selection hosts. This paper examines which part of the H-2 complex controls selection. The results show that, in the case of T cells of the H-2k haplotype, complete selection occurs with don...

background: biting habit of mosquitoes plays an important role in the epidemiology of mosquito-borne diseases. mosquitoes use a set of elaborate sensory modalities to find their preferred hosts by exploiting cues emanating from a nearby host. it has been suggested that the chemical profile of skin can provide further support for anthropophilic mosquito species to find their suitable hosts. this...

Recurrent viral pressure has acted on host-encoded antiviral genes during primate and mammalian evolution. This selective pressure has resulted in dramatic episodes of adaptation in host antiviral genes, often detected via positive selection. These evolutionary signatures of adaptation have the potential to highlight previously unrecognized antiviral genes (also called restriction factors). Alt...

Skin bacterial communities can protect amphibians from a fungal pathogen; however, little is known about how these communities are maintained. We used a neutral model of community ecology to identify bacteria that are maintained on salamanders by selection or by dispersal from a bacterial reservoir (soil) and ecological drift. We found that 75% (9/12) of bacteria that were consistent with posit...

Populations of plant RNA viruses are highly polymorphic in infected plants, which may allow rapid within-host evolution. To understand tobacco etch potyvirus (TEV) evolution, longitudinal samples from experimentally evolved populations in the natural host tobacco and from the alternative host pepper were phenotypically characterized and genetically analyzed. Temporal and compartmental variabili...