Nels and Vincent discuss how evolution of changes in stop codon assignment might occur, and a novel mechanism for altering the meaning of translation stop codons discovered in a trypanosomatid with the apropos name, Blastocrithidia nonstop. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts,  Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode •Join the MicrobeTV Discord server •Novel stop codon reassignment mechanisms (Nature) Science Picks Nels – Protein Synthesis: An epic on the cellular level  Vincent – Widespread stop-codon recoding in bacteriophages may regulate translation of lytic genes discussed on TWiM 277 Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles  Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 86: Pulling out the stops in genetic code evolution

This Week in Evolution is a podcast on the biology of what makes us tick. Hosts Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello take you through the new evolution that has been revolutionized by the field of genomics and molecular biology.

Natural Sciences

Science & Medicine

Science

Nels and Vincent discuss how behavioural individuality determines infection risk in clonal ant colonies. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode  Join the MicrobeTV Discord server Infection risk in clonal ant colonies (Nat Comm) Timestamps by Jolene  Science Picks Nels – Fungi (lichens) in Space Vincent – Polar bear energetic and behavioral strategies on land with implications for surviving the ice-free period Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles  Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 98: The worms strike back!

Nels and Vincent review a study of the key processes required for the different stages of fungal carnivory by a nematode-trapping fungus. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode  Join the MicrobeTV Discord server Fungal carnivory by a nematode-trapping fungus (Plos Biol) Timestamps by Jolene  Science Picks Nels – Openly available illustrations as tools to describe eukaryotic microbial diversity Vincent – Dana-Farber retractions: meet the blogger who spotted problems in dozens of cancer papers Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles  Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 97: Germs trapping worms

 Nels and Vincent discuss the origins of two modern day agriculturally important plants: a role for two different wild teosintes in making modern maize, and the origin and evolution of the triploid cultivated banana genome. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode  Join the MicrobeTV Discord server Two teosintes made modern maize (Science) Teosinte (Native Seeds) Evolution of triploid banana genome (Nature)  Science Picks Nels – Why we need an academic career path that combines science and art – Nature Careers Podcast Vincent – Science’s 2023 Breakthrough and Breakdown Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles  Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv 

TWiEVO 96: Going bananas over the origins of corn

Nels and Vincent discuss how the rewetting of seasonally dried soils, a critical event in Mediterranean grasslands that reactivates dormant soil microorganisms, leading to pulses of carbon and nitrogen mineralization, and is accompanied by a bloom of viral diversity, followed by extensive viral community turnover. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode  Join the MicrobeTV Discord server  Viral but not bacterial community successional patterns reflect extreme turnover shortly after rewetting dry soils  Science Picks Nels - Bluesky Vincent - Cancer Virus Hunters: A History of Tumor Virology Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 95: Watering the viruses until they bloom

Nels and Vincent take apart an amazing symbiosis consisting of two bacteria, one bacteriophage, and seven different genomes all within a single-celled alga. Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free):  Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiEVO Links for this episode •Join the MicrobeTV Discord server •A single crowded cryptomonad cell (Curr Biol) •Letters read on TWiEVO 94 Science Picks Nels – What happened at NIH during the last government shutdown Vincent – Geneticist J. Craig Venter: ‘I consider retirement tantamount to death’ Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles  Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

TWiEVO 86: Pulling out the stops in genetic code evolution

Download our free app to listen on your phone