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Open AccessEstablishment and characterization of turtle liver organoids provides a potential model to decode their unique adaptations
Painted turtles are remarkable for their freeze tolerance and supercooling ability along with their associated resilience to hypoxia/anoxia and oxidative stress, rendering them an ideal biomedical model for hy...
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Open AccessPublisher Correction: The tuatara genome reveals ancient features of amniote evolution
An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
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Open AccessThe tuatara genome reveals ancient features of amniote evolution
The tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)—the only living member of the reptilian order Rhynchocephalia (Sphenodontia), once widespread across Gondwana1,2—is an iconic species that is endemic to New Zealand2,3. A key lin...
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Open AccessExtreme thermal fluctuations from climate change unexpectedly accelerate demographic collapse of vertebrates with temperature-dependent sex determination
Global climate is warming rapidly, threatening vertebrates with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) by disrupting sex ratios and other traits. Less understood are the effects of increased thermal flu...
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Open AccessReconstruction of the diapsid ancestral genome permits chromosome evolution tracing in avian and non-avian dinosaurs
Genomic organisation of extinct lineages can be inferred from extant chromosome-level genome assemblies. Here, we apply bioinformatic and molecular cytogenetic approaches to determine the genomic structure of ...
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Article
A lengthy solution to the optimal propagule size problem in the large-bodied South American freshwater turtle, Podocnemis unifilis
In oviparous vertebrates lacking parental care, resource allocation during reproduction is a major maternal effect that may enhance female fitness. In general, resource allocation strategies are expected to fo...
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HLA Class I and Class II-Induced Intracellular Signaling and Molecular Associations in Primary Human Endothelial Cells
The signaling capacity of HLA molecules in vascular cells has been well established. Intracellular signaling and association with the coreceptor integrin β4 has been well-studied for HLA class I. However, litt...
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Putative Independent Evolutionary Reversals from Genotypic to Temperature-Dependent Sex Determination are Associated with Accelerated Evolution of Sex-Determining Genes in Turtles
The evolutionary lability of sex-determining mechanisms across the tree of life is well recognized, yet the extent of molecular changes that accompany these repeated transitions remain obscure. Most turtles re...
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Article
Development of sexing primers in Glyptemys insculpta and Apalone spinifera turtles uncovers an XX/XY sex-determining system in the critically-endangered bog turtle Glyptemys muhlenbergii
In species or developmental stages where the sex of an individual cannot be reliably identified through external morphology, molecular markers can provide a critical tool to study sex-specific traits that are ...
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Open AccessMeDIP-seq and nCpG analyses illuminate sexually dimorphic methylation of gonadal development genes with high historic methylation in turtle hatchlings with temperature-dependent sex determination
DNA methylation alters gene expression but not DNA sequence and mediates some cases of phenotypic plasticity. Temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) epitomizes phenotypic plasticity where environmental ...
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Article
Divergent Sex-Specific Plasticity in Long-Lived Vertebrates with Contrasting Sexual Dimorphism
Sex-specific plasticity can profoundly affect sexual size dimorphism (SSD), but its influence in female-larger-SSD vertebrates remains obscure. Theory predicts that sex-specific plasticity may drive SSD evolut...
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Article
A survey of DNA methylation across social insect species, life stages, and castes reveals abundant and caste-associated methylation in a primitively social wasp
DNA methylation plays an important role in the epigenetic control of developmental and behavioral plasticity, with connections to the generation of striking phenotypic differences between castes (larger, repro...
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Phylogenetic Patterns of Sexual Size Dimorphism in Turtles and Their Implications for Rensch’s Rule
Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is widespread in nature and may result from selection operating differentially on males and females. Rensch’s rule, the increase of SSD with body size in male-biased-SSD species (o...
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A ZZ/ZW microchromosome system in the spiny softshell turtle, Apalone spinifera, reveals an intriguing sex chromosome conservation in Trionychidae
Reptiles display a wide diversity of sex-determining mechanisms ranging from temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) to genotypic sex determination (GSD) with either male (XY) or female (ZW) heterogamety...
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Open AccessThe western painted turtle genome, a model for the evolution of extreme physiological adaptations in a slowly evolving lineage
We describe the genome of the western painted turtle, Chrysemys picta bellii, one of the most widespread, abundant, and well-studied turtles. We place the genome into a comparative evolutionary context, and focus...
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Article
The Role of Sex-specific Plasticity in Sha** Sexual Dimorphism in a Long-lived Vertebrate, the Snap** Turtle Chelydra serpentina
Sex-specific plasticity, the differential response that the genome of males and females may have to different environments, is a mechanism that can affect the degree of sexual dimorphism. Two adaptive hypothes...
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Population genetics of the endangered South American freshwater turtle, Podocnemis unifilis, inferred from microsatellite DNA data
We studied the population genetics of Podocnemis unifilis turtles within and among basins in the Orinoco and Amazon drainages using microsatellites. We detected high levels of genetic diversity in all sampled loc...
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An XX/XY heteromorphic sex chromosome system in the Australian chelid turtle Emydura macquarii: A new piece in the puzzle of sex chromosome evolution in turtles
Chromosomal sex determination is the prevalent system found in animals but is rare among turtles. In fact, heteromorphic sex chromosomes are known in only seven of the turtles possessing genotypic sex determin...
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Embryological ontogeny of aromatase gene expression in Chrysemys picta and Apalone mutica turtles: comparative patterns within and across temperature-dependent and genotypic sex-determining mechanisms
Although the role of aromatase in many estrogen-dependent reproductive and metabolic functions is well documented in vertebrates, its involvement in the ovarian development of species exhibiting temperature-de...
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An XX/XY sex microchromosome system in a freshwater turtle, Chelodina longicollis (Testudines: Chelidae) with genetic sex determination
Heteromorphic sex chromosomes are rare in turtles, having been described in only four species. Like many turtle species, the Australian freshwater turtle Chelodina longicollis has genetic sex determination, but n...
