Date	Name
22-Jul-2013	Thierry
29-Jul-2013	Michael
5-Aug-2013	Sarita
12-Aug-2013	Carel
19-Aug-2013	Kerry
26-Aug-2013	Angelika
2-Sep-2013	Stephen
9-Sep-2013	Arrie
16-Sep-2013	Samantha
23-Sep-2013	Ilkser
30-Sep-2013	Bianca
7-Oct-2013	Paulette
14-Oct-2013	Catherine
21-Oct-2013	Thierry
28-Oct-2013	Michael
4-Nov-2013	Sarita
11-Nov-2013	Carel
18-Nov-2013	Kerry
25-Nov-2013	Angelika
2-Dec-2013	Stephen
9-Dec-2013	Arrie

Discovery of a new phylum: from barcoding to taxonomy

One of the new way to discover cryptic diversity is to sequence environmental clone libraries. In 2007, researcher discovered a new and very deep lineage of picoeurcaryote from plankton samples using 18S. After years of survey, they could finally isolate this unicellular organism and describe it. The cell is 3.0 x 2.2 micrometers, it is biflagellate, it has a single mitochondrion and has a unique stereotypic motility. Based on these features, they decided to establish a new phylum: Picozoa. It is a nice example on how genetics helps in biodiversity survey and taxonomy. The paper was published the 26 March in Plos One (see reference below).

Figure 2. A Picomonas cell. 2A. Differential interference contrast of a chemically fixed cell. Inset shows phase contrast image of a live cell from tissue culture flask photographed with an inverted microscope (Scale bar 5 µm). 2B. Fluorescence and phase contrast overlay, nucleus (blue), mitochondrion (red). 2C. SEM image. 2D. A longitudinal section through a cell in the plane of the flagella, viewed from the cell’s left. 2E. A 3 D serial section reconstruction of the cell depicted in 2D. AF/PF (anterior−/posterior flagellum); AP/PP (anterior/posterior part of the cell); G (Golgi body); M (mitochondrion); MB (‘microbody’); N (nucleus); tr1,tr2 (distal [tr2] and proximal [tr1] flagellar transitional regions); P (posterior digestive body); Cl (cleft separating the anterior from the posterior part of the cell); vc (vacuolar cisterna). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0059565.g002

Source: Seenivasan R, Sausen N, Medlin LK, Melkonian M (2013) Picomonas judraskeda Gen. Et Sp. Nov.: The First Identified Member of the Picozoa Phylum Nov., a Widespread Group of Picoeukaryotes, Formerly Known as ‘Picobiliphytes’. PLoS ONE 8(3): e59565. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0059565

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0059565

From the jungle to The Dell

Wallace Anniversary - Commemorating a great Evolutionary Biologist

2013 is the 100th year since the death of Alfred Russell Wallace (8th Jan 1823 - 7th Nov 1913), in the words of David Quammen "the best field naturalist of the nineteenth century." See Quammen's retrospective review of Wallace's seminal book, "The Malay Archipelago".

Wallace tends to get short shrift in evolutionary compendiums, especially those from the mid-20th century. This is probably because he held to some unconventional ideas that, with more information, were largely rejected as unnecessary, wrong or irrational. This is unfortunate because, as Darwin himself recognised, Wallace was an impressively original independent thinker. His 1855 Sarawak paper, which he also discussed with Darwin, raised the concept of regional allopatric speciation leading to sister species in adjacent areas. In his Ternate paper, he independently arrived at the concept of evolution by natural selection, leading to the joint presentation with Darwin to the Linnaean Society. A later paper on the biogeography of Malesia first described his eponymic disjunction between Bali and Lombok in Indonesia, although the term "Wallace's Line" came later (I'm not quite sure who coined it, probably Huxley in 1868. I want to note too that Wallace was not the first, nor the only great biogeographer working in Malesia around that time, both Müller and the Sclater brothers also drew lines in the same area, viz Simpson "Too many lines").

Among diverse interests Wallace was a socialist, who campaigned for nationalisation of land and protectionism in the first era of global trade. He was also interested in mysticism - communing with spirits through séances - in fact he did not believe that evolution applied to the human mind or soul (greatly to the dismay of Darwin and peers such as Huxley, Hooker and Lyell). But, he was also a very modern thinker in other senses, being an environmentalist concerned with extinction far ahead of his time. Even more so, in his last decade he wrote two books on exobiology and the unlikelihood of life on Mars (perhaps responding to HG Wells's 1989 War of the Worlds).

Wallace and Darwin maintained good relations and a lively correspondence throughout Darwin's life - much of it in strident, though amicable disagreement.

Should anyone care to purchase a lovely portion of evolutionary history's history, The Dell, a house built by Wallace in Grays on the lower Thames, England, is up for sale (although perhaps you may first need a lottery ticket).

Journal club schedule - 1st semester 2013

Date	Name
28-Jan-2013	Kerry
4-Feb-2013	Angelika
11-Feb-2013	Stephen
18-Feb-2013	Michael
25-Feb-2013	Arrie
4-Mar-2013	Thierry
11-Mar-2013	Samantha
18-Mar-2013	Sarita
25-Mar-2013	Carel
1-Apr-2013	Public holiday - Family Day
8-Apr-2013	Paulette
15-Apr-2013	Bianca
22-Apr-2013	Ilkser
29-Apr-2013	Catherine
6-May-2013	Kerry
13-May-2013	Angelika
20-May-2013	Stephen
27-May-2013	Michael
3-Jun-2013	Arrie
10-Jun-2013	Thierry
17-Jun-2013	Public holiday
24-Jun-2013	Samantha
1-Jul-2013	Sarita
8-Jul-2013	Carel