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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Resurrection of Dormant Daphnia magna: Protocol and Applications

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Published on: January 19, 2018

Protein adaptation and biogeography: Threshold effects on molecular evolution.

¹George Somero is at the Marine Biology Research Division, A-002, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA.

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

|January 14, 2011

Summary

Species

Area of Science:

Biochemistry and evolutionary biology
Protein science
Environmental adaptation

Background:

Species distribution is influenced by protein adaptations to environmental factors like temperature and pressure.
Studying closely related species in varying habitats reveals environmental limits on protein function.

Purpose of the Study:

To identify environmental thresholds for protein stability.
To determine effective amino acid substitutions for maintaining protein function under environmental stress.

Main Methods:

Comparative analysis of closely related species across environmental gradients.
Investigating protein adaptations in response to differing temperature or pressure conditions.

Main Results:

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Identified specific environmental thresholds impacting protein structure and function.
Revealed that amino acid substitutions outside active sites are crucial for adaptation.
Provided evidence supporting the role of natural selection in protein evolution.

Conclusions:

Protein adaptations are key to species' biogeographical ranges.
Non-active site amino acid substitutions are vital for protein resilience.
Findings contribute to the ongoing Neutralist versus Selectionist debate in evolutionary biology.