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EVOlvINC: Evaluating knowledge integration capacity in multistakeholder governance
(2019)Ecology and SocietyResearch and policy processes in many fields, such as sustainability and health, are increasingly relying on transdisciplinary cooperation among a multitude of governmental, nongovernmental, and private actors from local to global levels. In the absence of hierarchical chains of command, multistakeholder governance may accommodate conflicting or diverse interests and facilitate collective action, but its effectiveness depends on its ...Journal Article -
Building better all-solid-state batteries with Li-garnet solid electrolytes and metalloid anodes
(2019)Journal of Materials Chemistry AJournal Article -
Chromatin-sensitive cryptic promoters putatively drive expression of alternative protein isoforms in yeast
(2019)Genome ResearchCryptic transcription is widespread and generates a heterogeneous group of RNA molecules of unknown function. To improve our understanding of cryptic transcription, we investigated their transcription start site (TSS) usage, chromatin organization, and posttranscriptional consequences in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We show that TSSs of chromatin-sensitive internal cryptic transcripts retain comparable features of canonical TSSs in terms of ...Journal Article -
Induction of human hemogenesis in adult fibroblasts by defined factors and hematopoietic coculture
(2019)FEBS LettersTranscription factor (TF)‐based reprogramming of somatic tissues holds great promise for regenerative medicine. Previously, we demonstrated that the TFs GATA2, GFI1B, and FOS convert mouse and human fibroblasts to hemogenic endothelial‐like precursors that generate hematopoietic stem progenitor (HSPC)‐like cells over time. This conversion is lacking in robustness both in yield and biological function. Herein, we show that inclusion of ...Journal Article -
Dissecting HIV Virulence: Heritability of Setpoint Viral Load, CD4+ T-Cell Decline, and Per-Parasite Pathogenicity
(2018)Molecular Biology and EvolutionPathogen strains may differ in virulence because they attain different loads in their hosts, or because they induce different disease-causing mechanisms independent of their load. In evolutionary ecology, the latter is referred to as “per-parasite pathogenicity”. Using viral load and CD4+ T-cell measures from 2014 HIV-1 subtype B-infected individuals enrolled in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study, we investigated if virulence—measured as the rate ...Journal Article -
The Chlamydia suis Genome Exhibits High Levels of Diversity, Plasticity, and Mobile Antibiotic Resistance: Comparative Genomics of a Recent Livestock Cohort Shows Influence of Treatment Regimes
(2017)Genome Biology and EvolutionChlamydia suis is an endemic pig pathogen, belonging to a fascinating genus of obligate intracellular pathogens. Of particular interest, this is the only chlamydial species to have naturally acquired genes encoding for tetracycline resistance. To date, the distribution and mobility of the Tet-island are not well understood. Our study focused on whole genome sequencing of 29 C. suis isolates from a recent porcine cohort within Switzerland, ...Journal Article -
Comparative analyses of the thermodynamic RNA binding signatures of different types of RNA recognition motifs
(2017)Nucleic Acids ResearchRNA recognition motifs (RRMs) are structurally versatile domains important in regulation of alternative splicing. Structural mechanisms of sequence-specific recognition of single-stranded RNAs (ssRNAs) by RRMs are well understood. The thermodynamic strategies are however unclear. Therefore, we utilized microcalorimetry and semi-empirical analyses to comparatively analyze the cognate ssRNA binding thermodynamics of four different RRM ...Journal Article -
Population Heterogeneity in Mutation Rate Increases the Frequency of Higher-Order Mutants and Reduces Long-Term Mutational Load
(2017)Molecular Biology and EvolutionMutation rate is a crucial evolutionary parameter that has typically been treated as a constant in population genetic analyses. However, the propensity to mutate is likely to vary among co-existing individuals within a population, due to genetic polymorphisms, heterogeneous environmental influences, and random physiological fluctuations. We review the evidence for mutation rate heterogeneity and explore its consequences by extending classic ...Journal Article -
Distinct Trajectories of Massive Recent Gene Gains and Losses in Populations of a Microbial Eukaryotic Pathogen
(2017)Molecular Biology and EvolutionDifferences in gene content are a significant source of variability within species and have an impact on phenotypic traits. However, little is known about the mechanisms responsible for the most recent gene gains and losses. We screened the genomes of 123 worldwide isolates of the major pathogen of wheat Zymoseptoria tritici for robust evidence of gene copy number variation. Based on orthology relationships in three closely related fungi, ...Journal Article -
Bayesian inference of species networks from multilocus sequence data
(2018)Molecular Biology and EvolutionJournal Article