---
OA_type: closed access
_id: '20219'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Reproduction is a fundamental biological process, with organisms reproducing
sexually, asexually, and, in some cases, utilizing both modes of reproduction
within the same population. Does the ability to reproduce through a combination
of asexual and sexual modes offer an evolutionary advantage over relying on either
mode alone? Here, we introduce an empirically driven theoretical model to examine
the dynamics and interplay between sexual and asexual reproduction in stick insect
populations. We analyse it using a novel phase transition approach and corroborate
it using published experimental data. We find that the presence of males can either
increase or decrease the overall population size. However, maintaining an optimal
ratio of parthenogenetic to sexual reproduction is crucial for male resilience,
effectively delaying male extinction. Conversely, extreme levels of parthenogenetic
reproduction—whether too high or too low—can lead to male extinction, emphasizing
the need for a balanced number of virgin females to ensure the persistence of
males. Our model also explains male absence in Carausius morosus and persistence
in Extatosoma tiaratum. Our findings provide valuable insights into the interplay
of reproductive strategies and contribute to broader discussions on the transitions
between sexual and asexual reproduction.
acknowledgement: We acknowledge Prof. Uri Alon for introducing us to the topic of
systems biology during the graduate course at the Weizmann Institute of Science,
whose insights and teachings have greatly inspired this work.
article_number: '20250202'
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Oran
full_name: Ayalon, Oran
last_name: Ayalon
- first_name: Harikrishnan
full_name: Rajendran, Harikrishnan
id: 876b6b34-8ff4-11ec-97c9-8d95a7aae416
last_name: Rajendran
citation:
ama: Ayalon O, Rajendran H. Interplay of asexual and sexual reproduction in bifunctional
insects. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 2025;22(229). doi:10.1098/rsif.2025.0202
apa: Ayalon, O., & Rajendran, H. (2025). Interplay of asexual and sexual reproduction
in bifunctional insects. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Royal
Society. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2025.0202
chicago: Ayalon, Oran, and Harikrishnan Rajendran. “Interplay of Asexual and Sexual
Reproduction in Bifunctional Insects.” Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
Royal Society, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2025.0202.
ieee: O. Ayalon and H. Rajendran, “Interplay of asexual and sexual reproduction
in bifunctional insects,” Journal of the Royal Society Interface, vol.
22, no. 229. Royal Society, 2025.
ista: Ayalon O, Rajendran H. 2025. Interplay of asexual and sexual reproduction
in bifunctional insects. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 22(229), 20250202.
mla: Ayalon, Oran, and Harikrishnan Rajendran. “Interplay of Asexual and Sexual
Reproduction in Bifunctional Insects.” Journal of the Royal Society Interface,
vol. 22, no. 229, 20250202, Royal Society, 2025, doi:10.1098/rsif.2025.0202.
short: O. Ayalon, H. Rajendran, Journal of the Royal Society Interface 22 (2025).
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2025-08-24T22:01:30Z
date_published: 2025-08-13T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-08-12T14:09:20Z
day: '13'
department:
- _id: SyCr
doi: 10.1098/rsif.2025.0202
external_id:
isi:
- '001548084900001'
pmid:
- '40799050'
intvolume: ' 22'
isi: 1
issue: '229'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '08'
oa_version: None
pmid: 1
publication: Journal of the Royal Society Interface
publication_identifier:
eissn:
- 1742-5662
issn:
- 1742-5689
publication_status: published
publisher: Royal Society
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Interplay of asexual and sexual reproduction in bifunctional insects
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 22
year: '2025'
...
---
_id: '7651'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: The growth of snail shells can be described by simple mathematical rules.
Variation in a few parameters can explain much of the diversity of shell shapes
seen in nature. However, empirical studies of gastropod shell shape variation
typically use geometric morphometric approaches, which do not capture this growth
pattern. We have developed a way to infer a set of developmentally descriptive
shape parameters based on three-dimensional logarithmic helicospiral growth and
using landmarks from two-dimensional shell images as input. We demonstrate the
utility of this approach, and compare it to the geometric morphometric approach,
using a large set of Littorina saxatilis shells in which locally adapted populations
differ in shape. Our method can be modified easily to make it applicable to a
wide range of shell forms, which would allow for investigations of the similarities
and differences between and within many different species of gastropods.
article_number: '20190721'
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: J.
full_name: Larsson, J.
last_name: Larsson
- first_name: Anja M
full_name: Westram, Anja M
id: 3C147470-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Westram
orcid: 0000-0003-1050-4969
- first_name: S.
full_name: Bengmark, S.
last_name: Bengmark
- first_name: T.
full_name: Lundh, T.
last_name: Lundh
- first_name: R. K.
full_name: Butlin, R. K.
last_name: Butlin
citation:
ama: Larsson J, Westram AM, Bengmark S, Lundh T, Butlin RK. A developmentally descriptive
method for quantifying shape in gastropod shells. Journal of the Royal Society
Interface. 2020;17(163). doi:10.1098/rsif.2019.0721
apa: Larsson, J., Westram, A. M., Bengmark, S., Lundh, T., & Butlin, R. K. (2020).
A developmentally descriptive method for quantifying shape in gastropod shells.
Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Royal Society. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2019.0721
chicago: Larsson, J., Anja M Westram, S. Bengmark, T. Lundh, and R. K. Butlin. “A
Developmentally Descriptive Method for Quantifying Shape in Gastropod Shells.”
Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Royal Society, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2019.0721.
ieee: J. Larsson, A. M. Westram, S. Bengmark, T. Lundh, and R. K. Butlin, “A developmentally
descriptive method for quantifying shape in gastropod shells,” Journal of the
Royal Society Interface, vol. 17, no. 163. Royal Society, 2020.
ista: Larsson J, Westram AM, Bengmark S, Lundh T, Butlin RK. 2020. A developmentally
descriptive method for quantifying shape in gastropod shells. Journal of the Royal
Society Interface. 17(163), 20190721.
mla: Larsson, J., et al. “A Developmentally Descriptive Method for Quantifying Shape
in Gastropod Shells.” Journal of the Royal Society Interface, vol. 17,
no. 163, 20190721, Royal Society, 2020, doi:10.1098/rsif.2019.0721.
short: J. Larsson, A.M. Westram, S. Bengmark, T. Lundh, R.K. Butlin, Journal of
the Royal Society Interface 17 (2020).
date_created: 2020-04-08T15:19:17Z
date_published: 2020-02-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-08-12T14:06:19Z
day: '01'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: NiBa
doi: 10.1098/rsif.2019.0721
file:
- access_level: open_access
checksum: 4eb102304402f5c56432516b84df86d6
content_type: application/pdf
creator: dernst
date_created: 2020-04-14T12:31:16Z
date_updated: 2020-07-14T12:48:01Z
file_id: '7660'
file_name: 2020_JournRoyalSociety_Larsson.pdf
file_size: 1556190
relation: main_file
file_date_updated: 2020-07-14T12:48:01Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: ' 17'
issue: '163'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '02'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
publication: Journal of the Royal Society Interface
publication_identifier:
eissn:
- 1742-5662
issn:
- 1742-5689
publication_status: published
publisher: Royal Society
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: A developmentally descriptive method for quantifying shape in gastropod shells
tmp:
image: /images/cc_by.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 17
year: '2020'
...
---
_id: '5858'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Spatial patterns are ubiquitous on the subcellular, cellular and tissue level,
and can be studied using imaging techniques such as light and fluorescence microscopy.
Imaging data provide quantitative information about biological systems; however,
mechanisms causing spatial patterning often remain elusive. In recent years, spatio-temporal
mathematical modelling has helped to overcome this problem. Yet, outliers and
structured noise limit modelling of whole imaging data, and models often consider
spatial summary statistics. Here, we introduce an integrated data-driven modelling
approach that can cope with measurement artefacts and whole imaging data. Our
approach combines mechanistic models of the biological processes with robust statistical
models of the measurement process. The parameters of the integrated model are
calibrated using a maximum-likelihood approach. We used this integrated modelling
approach to study in vivo gradients of the chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 21 (CCL21).
CCL21 gradients guide dendritic cells and are important in the adaptive immune
response. Using artificial data, we verified that the integrated modelling approach
provides reliable parameter estimates in the presence of measurement noise and
that bias and variance of these estimates are reduced compared to conventional
approaches. The application to experimental data allowed the parametrization and
subsequent refinement of the model using additional mechanisms. Among other results,
model-based hypothesis testing predicted lymphatic vessel-dependent concentration
of heparan sulfate, the binding partner of CCL21. The selected model provided
an accurate description of the experimental data and was partially validated using
published data. Our findings demonstrate that integrated statistical modelling
of whole imaging data is computationally feasible and can provide novel biological
insights.
article_number: '20180600'
article_processing_charge: No
author:
- first_name: Sabrina
full_name: Hross, Sabrina
last_name: Hross
- first_name: Fabian J.
full_name: Theis, Fabian J.
last_name: Theis
- first_name: Michael K
full_name: Sixt, Michael K
id: 41E9FBEA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Sixt
orcid: 0000-0002-6620-9179
- first_name: Jan
full_name: Hasenauer, Jan
last_name: Hasenauer
citation:
ama: Hross S, Theis FJ, Sixt MK, Hasenauer J. Mechanistic description of spatial
processes using integrative modelling of noise-corrupted imaging data. Journal
of the Royal Society Interface. 2018;15(149). doi:10.1098/rsif.2018.0600
apa: Hross, S., Theis, F. J., Sixt, M. K., & Hasenauer, J. (2018). Mechanistic
description of spatial processes using integrative modelling of noise-corrupted
imaging data. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Royal Society. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2018.0600
chicago: Hross, Sabrina, Fabian J. Theis, Michael K Sixt, and Jan Hasenauer. “Mechanistic
Description of Spatial Processes Using Integrative Modelling of Noise-Corrupted
Imaging Data.” Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Royal Society, 2018.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2018.0600.
ieee: S. Hross, F. J. Theis, M. K. Sixt, and J. Hasenauer, “Mechanistic description
of spatial processes using integrative modelling of noise-corrupted imaging data,”
Journal of the Royal Society Interface, vol. 15, no. 149. Royal Society,
2018.
ista: Hross S, Theis FJ, Sixt MK, Hasenauer J. 2018. Mechanistic description of
spatial processes using integrative modelling of noise-corrupted imaging data.
Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 15(149), 20180600.
mla: Hross, Sabrina, et al. “Mechanistic Description of Spatial Processes Using
Integrative Modelling of Noise-Corrupted Imaging Data.” Journal of the Royal
Society Interface, vol. 15, no. 149, 20180600, Royal Society, 2018, doi:10.1098/rsif.2018.0600.
short: S. Hross, F.J. Theis, M.K. Sixt, J. Hasenauer, Journal of the Royal Society
Interface 15 (2018).
date_created: 2019-01-20T22:59:18Z
date_published: 2018-12-05T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-08-12T06:28:50Z
day: '05'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: MiSi
doi: 10.1098/rsif.2018.0600
external_id:
isi:
- '000456783800011'
file:
- access_level: open_access
checksum: 56eb4308a15b7190bff938fab1f780e8
content_type: application/pdf
creator: dernst
date_created: 2019-02-05T14:46:44Z
date_updated: 2020-07-14T12:47:13Z
file_id: '5925'
file_name: 2018_Interface_Hross.pdf
file_size: 1464288
relation: main_file
file_date_updated: 2020-07-14T12:47:13Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: ' 15'
isi: 1
issue: '149'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '12'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
publication: Journal of the Royal Society Interface
publication_identifier:
issn:
- 1742-5689
publication_status: published
publisher: Royal Society
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Mechanistic description of spatial processes using integrative modelling of
noise-corrupted imaging data
tmp:
image: /images/cc_by.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 15
year: '2018'
...
---
_id: '5860'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: 'A major problem for evolutionary theory is understanding the so-called open-ended
nature of evolutionary change, from its definition to its origins. Open-ended
evolution (OEE) refers to the unbounded increase in complexity that seems to characterize
evolution on multiple scales. This property seems to be a characteristic feature
of biological and technological evolution and is strongly tied to the generative
potential associated with combinatorics, which allows the system to grow and expand
their available state spaces. Interestingly, many complex systems presumably displaying
OEE, from language to proteins, share a common statistical property: the presence
of Zipf''s Law. Given an inventory of basic items (such as words or protein domains)
required to build more complex structures (sentences or proteins) Zipf''s Law
tells us that most of these elements are rare whereas a few of them are extremely
common. Using algorithmic information theory, in this paper we provide a fundamental
definition for open-endedness, which can be understood as postulates. Its statistical
counterpart, based on standard Shannon information theory, has the structure of
a variational problem which is shown to lead to Zipf''s Law as the expected consequence
of an evolutionary process displaying OEE. We further explore the problem of information
conservation through an OEE process and we conclude that statistical information
(standard Shannon information) is not conserved, resulting in the paradoxical
situation in which the increase of information content has the effect of erasing
itself. We prove that this paradox is solved if we consider non-statistical forms
of information. This last result implies that standard information theory may
not be a suitable theoretical framework to explore the persistence and increase
of the information content in OEE systems.'
article_number: '20180395'
article_processing_charge: No
arxiv: 1
author:
- first_name: Bernat
full_name: Corominas-Murtra, Bernat
id: 43BE2298-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Corominas-Murtra
orcid: 0000-0001-9806-5643
- first_name: Luís F.
full_name: Seoane, Luís F.
last_name: Seoane
- first_name: Ricard
full_name: Solé, Ricard
last_name: Solé
citation:
ama: Corominas-Murtra B, Seoane LF, Solé R. Zipf’s Law, unbounded complexity and
open-ended evolution. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 2018;15(149).
doi:10.1098/rsif.2018.0395
apa: Corominas-Murtra, B., Seoane, L. F., & Solé, R. (2018). Zipf’s Law, unbounded
complexity and open-ended evolution. Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
Royal Society. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2018.0395
chicago: Corominas-Murtra, Bernat, Luís F. Seoane, and Ricard Solé. “Zipf’s Law,
Unbounded Complexity and Open-Ended Evolution.” Journal of the Royal Society
Interface. Royal Society, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2018.0395.
ieee: B. Corominas-Murtra, L. F. Seoane, and R. Solé, “Zipf’s Law, unbounded complexity
and open-ended evolution,” Journal of the Royal Society Interface, vol.
15, no. 149. Royal Society, 2018.
ista: Corominas-Murtra B, Seoane LF, Solé R. 2018. Zipf’s Law, unbounded complexity
and open-ended evolution. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 15(149), 20180395.
mla: Corominas-Murtra, Bernat, et al. “Zipf’s Law, Unbounded Complexity and Open-Ended
Evolution.” Journal of the Royal Society Interface, vol. 15, no. 149, 20180395,
Royal Society, 2018, doi:10.1098/rsif.2018.0395.
short: B. Corominas-Murtra, L.F. Seoane, R. Solé, Journal of the Royal Society Interface
15 (2018).
date_created: 2019-01-20T22:59:19Z
date_published: 2018-12-12T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-08-12T06:28:34Z
day: '12'
department:
- _id: EdHa
doi: 10.1098/rsif.2018.0395
external_id:
arxiv:
- '1612.01605'
isi:
- '000456783800002'
intvolume: ' 15'
isi: 1
issue: '149'
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
url: https://arxiv.org/abs/1612.01605
month: '12'
oa: 1
oa_version: Preprint
publication: Journal of the Royal Society Interface
publication_identifier:
issn:
- 1742-5689
publication_status: published
publisher: Royal Society
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Zipf's Law, unbounded complexity and open-ended evolution
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 15
year: '2018'
...
---
_id: '1077'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Viral capsids are structurally constrained by interactions among the amino
acids (AAs) of their constituent proteins. Therefore, epistasis is expected to
evolve among physically interacting sites and to influence the rates of substitution.
To study the evolution of epistasis, we focused on the major structural protein
of the fX174 phage family by first reconstructing the ancestral protein sequences
of 18 species using a Bayesian statistical framework. The inferred ancestral reconstruction
differed at eight AAs, for a total of 256 possible ancestral haplotypes. For each
ancestral haplotype and the extant species, we estimated, in silico, the distribution
of free energies and epistasis of the capsid structure. We found that free energy
has not significantly increased but epistasis has. We decomposed epistasis up
to fifth order and found that higher-order epistasis sometimes compensates pairwise
interactions making the free energy seem additive. The dN/dS ratio is low, suggesting
strong purifying selection, and that structure is under stabilizing selection.
We synthesized phages carrying ancestral haplotypes of the coat protein gene and
measured their fitness experimentally. Our findings indicate that stabilizing
mutations can have higher fitness, and that fitness optima do not necessarily
coincide with energy minima.
article_number: '20160139'
article_processing_charge: Yes (in subscription journal)
author:
- first_name: Rodrigo A
full_name: Fernandes Redondo, Rodrigo A
id: 409D5C96-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Fernandes Redondo
orcid: 0000-0002-5837-2793
- first_name: Harold
full_name: Vladar, Harold
id: 2A181218-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Vladar
orcid: 0000-0002-5985-7653
- first_name: Tomasz
full_name: Włodarski, Tomasz
last_name: Włodarski
- first_name: Jonathan P
full_name: Bollback, Jonathan P
id: 2C6FA9CC-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Bollback
orcid: 0000-0002-4624-4612
citation:
ama: Fernandes Redondo RA, de Vladar H, Włodarski T, Bollback JP. Evolutionary interplay
between structure, energy and epistasis in the coat protein of the ϕX174 phage
family. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 2017;14(126). doi:10.1098/rsif.2016.0139
apa: Fernandes Redondo, R. A., de Vladar, H., Włodarski, T., & Bollback, J.
P. (2017). Evolutionary interplay between structure, energy and epistasis in the
coat protein of the ϕX174 phage family. Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
Royal Society. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2016.0139
chicago: Fernandes Redondo, Rodrigo A, Harold de Vladar, Tomasz Włodarski, and Jonathan
P Bollback. “Evolutionary Interplay between Structure, Energy and Epistasis in
the Coat Protein of the ΦX174 Phage Family.” Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
Royal Society, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2016.0139.
ieee: R. A. Fernandes Redondo, H. de Vladar, T. Włodarski, and J. P. Bollback, “Evolutionary
interplay between structure, energy and epistasis in the coat protein of the ϕX174
phage family,” Journal of the Royal Society Interface, vol. 14, no. 126.
Royal Society, 2017.
ista: Fernandes Redondo RA, de Vladar H, Włodarski T, Bollback JP. 2017. Evolutionary
interplay between structure, energy and epistasis in the coat protein of the ϕX174
phage family. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 14(126), 20160139.
mla: Fernandes Redondo, Rodrigo A., et al. “Evolutionary Interplay between Structure,
Energy and Epistasis in the Coat Protein of the ΦX174 Phage Family.” Journal
of the Royal Society Interface, vol. 14, no. 126, 20160139, Royal Society,
2017, doi:10.1098/rsif.2016.0139.
short: R.A. Fernandes Redondo, H. de Vladar, T. Włodarski, J.P. Bollback, Journal
of the Royal Society Interface 14 (2017).
date_created: 2018-12-11T11:50:01Z
date_published: 2017-01-04T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-08-12T14:08:11Z
day: '04'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: NiBa
- _id: JoBo
doi: 10.1098/rsif.2016.0139
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
isi:
- '000393380400001'
file:
- access_level: open_access
content_type: application/pdf
creator: dernst
date_created: 2019-01-18T09:14:02Z
date_updated: 2019-01-18T09:14:02Z
file_id: '5843'
file_name: 2017_JRSI_Redondo.pdf
file_size: 1092015
relation: main_file
success: 1
file_date_updated: 2019-01-18T09:14:02Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: ' 14'
isi: 1
issue: '126'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '01'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
project:
- _id: 25B07788-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
call_identifier: FP7
grant_number: '250152'
name: Limits to selection in biology and in evolutionary computation
- _id: 2578D616-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
call_identifier: H2020
grant_number: '648440'
name: Selective Barriers to Horizontal Gene Transfer
publication: Journal of the Royal Society Interface
publication_identifier:
issn:
- 1742-5689
publication_status: published
publisher: Royal Society
publist_id: '6303'
quality_controlled: '1'
related_material:
record:
- id: '9864'
relation: research_data
status: public
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Evolutionary interplay between structure, energy and epistasis in the coat
protein of the ϕX174 phage family
tmp:
image: /images/cc_by.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 14
year: '2017'
...