Yet Another PLoS Success Story, and some interesting stuff about sex and genes.

Posted by Greg Laden on August 13, 2008
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From Sex, Genes and Evolution, a story of publishing in PLoS Open Access Journal:

My lab has taken its initial journey on the PLoS ONE train.

Yesterday, our paper entitled “An Expanded Inventory of Conserved Meiotic Genes Provides Evidence for Sex in Trichomonas vaginalis” was published in PLoS ONE. It’s a updated and detailed report on the ongoing work in my lab to generate and curate an “inventory” of genes involved in meiosis that are present across major eukaryotic lineages. This paper focuses on the protist, Trichomonas vaginalis, an organism not known to have a sexual phase in its life cycle.

Read the rest here. And read the paper by following the links. Or at least visit John Logsdon as a show of support!!!

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Comments

  1. #1 Coturnix
    August 13, 2008

    I hope the Creos don’t spin this along the lines of “sex genes were sitting in the genome, placed there by the Designer, waiting for the moment they were needed for actual sex”. But perhaps they are too squeamish to actually write or even think about sex.

  2. #2 Greg Laden
    August 13, 2008

    Well, in the tradition of using Biblical metaphores (“like mtDNA Eve”) these genes could be called “Pre-Eden Gens” or Before The Fall Genes” .. and numbered BTF 1, BTF 2, etc.

  3. #3 John Logsdon
    August 13, 2008

    thanks, Greg! I might have to use that idea sometime. Or I could just wait for Ax&Fax to pick it up!