ArticleBioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology2013
Genome reduction as the dominant mode of evolution.
Article in BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 176 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
176 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Genomic evolution and adaptation of arthropod-associated Rickettsia.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- The Origin and Early Evolution of Fungi: Challenges, Inferences, and Principles.Annual review of cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Low Levels of Amino Acid Auxotrophy Among Environmental Pseudomonas Isolates.Environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Mating-Type System Analysis and Domestication ofJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Convergent genomic trajectories shape adaptation to life on land across animal lineages.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Wave succession in the pandemic clone of Vibrio parahaemolyticus driven by gene loss.Nature ecology & evolution · 2026Article
- Novel genes arise from genomic deletions across the bacterial tree of life.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Functional gut microbiota dynamics of generalist and specialist bacteria in association with chicken growth.ISME communications · 2026Article
- Evolution of the Metazoan Protein Domain Repertoire Revealed by a Birth-Death-Gain Model.Journal of molecular evolution · 2025Article
- Comparative Genomic Analysis of Co-Occurring Hybrid Zones of House Mouse Parasites Pneumocystis murina and Syphacia obvelata Using Genome Polarisation.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Alternative splicing across the tree of life.eLife · 2025Article
- Comparative genomic insights into ecological adaptations and evolutionary dynamics of Trebouxiophyceae algae.BMC genomics · 2025Article
- Genomic and Antigenic Differences Between Monkeypox Virus and Vaccinia Vaccines: Insights and Implications for Vaccinology.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Bacterial sensor evolved by decreasing complexity.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Evolutionary plasticity and functional repurposing of the essential metabolic enzyme MoeA.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Half of microbial eukaryote literature focuses on only 12 human parasites.The ISME journal · 2025Article
- Genome Streamlining: Effect of Mutation Rate and Population Size on Genome Size Reduction.Genome biology and evolution · 2024Article
- Phylogeographic analysis ofThe Journal of general virology · 2024Article
- Genome reduction in novel, obligately methyl-reducing Methanosarcinales isolated from arthropod guts (Methanolapillus gen. nov. and Methanimicrococcus).FEMS microbiology ecology · 2024Article
- Adaptive gene loss in the common bean pan-genome during range expansion and domestication.Nature communications · 2024Article
116 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
A common belief is that evolution generally proceeds towards greater complexity at both the organismal and the genomic level, numerous examples of reductive evolution of parasites and symbionts notwithstanding. However, recent evolutionary reconstructions challenge this notion. Two notable examples are the reconstruction of the complex archaeal ancestor and the intron-rich ancestor of eukaryotes. In both cases, evolution in most of the lineages was apparently dominated by extensive loss of genes and introns, respectively. These and many other cases of reductive evolution are consistent with a general model composed of two distinct evolutionary phases: the short, explosive, innovation phase that leads to an abrupt increase in genome complexity, followed by a much longer reductive phase, which encompasses either a neutral ratchet of genetic material loss or adaptive genome streamlining. Quantitatively, the evolution of genomes appears to be dominated by reduction and simplification, punctuated by episodes of complexification.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.