Nova Mieszkowska

The characterisation of mutational processes active in somatic and germline cells in vivo has predominantly focused on human cancers1,2, normal tissues3-5 and model organisms6-8. Beyond mammals9, little is known about mutational processes across the tree of life. We developed himut (high-fidelity mutation), an algorithm to identify somatic mutations from circular consensus long-read sequencing data, deploying it on 708 samples from 661 species from Britain and Ireland10. The spectra of somatic mutations, categorised by mutation type and local sequence context, showed considerable between-species divergence but within-species similarity. From normalised spectra across the dataset, we extracted 95 distinct patterns, or 'signatures', of somatic mutations, together with 18 signatures of germline mutational processes. Only two of the somatic signatures resembled mutational signatures extracted from human cancers1,2. Of the somatic signatures, 22 had significant clustering within the taxonomic classification, with some distributed across an entire kingdom or phylum, while others were restricted to a single family or species. Three somatic signatures were found only in water-dwelling species, with one distributed across multiple clades that might suggest it derives from a water-borne mutagen. Of germline signatures, eight were found in multiple species, showed significant clustering by taxonomic classification and had counterpart somatic signatures with matching mutational spectrum and species distribution. Thus, there is considerably greater diversity of mutational processes across the tree of life than found in human samples, likely reflecting either cell-intrinsic biological processes or environmental exposures (or both) operative within distinct clades.

We present a genome assembly from an individual Littorina littorea (common periwinkle; Mollusca; Gastropoda; Littorinimorpha; Littorinidae). The assembly contains two haplotypes with total lengths of 849.61 megabases and 847.12 megabases. Most of haplotype 1 (91.03%) is scaffolded into 17 chromosomal pseudomolecules. Haplotype 2 was assembled to scaffold level. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled, with a length of 16.97 kilobases. This assembly was generated as part of the Darwin Tree of Life project, which produces reference genomes for eukaryotic species found in Britain and Ireland.

We present a genome assembly from an individual Onchidella celtica (Celtic sea slug; Mollusca; Gastropoda; Systellommatophora; Onchidiidae). The genome sequence has a total length of 1 141.02 megabases. Most of the assembly (99.92%) is scaffolded into 18 chromosomal pseudomolecules. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 12 582 protein-coding genes. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled, with a length of 13.99 kilobases. This assembly was generated as part of the Darwin Tree of Life project, which produces reference genomes for eukaryotic species found in Britain and Ireland.

The study of present-day species distributions often raises questions about historical demography. A particularly interesting phenomenon to put in historical context is contemporary human-induced atlantification and its role in reshaping Arctic ecosystems. Despite this, the colonisation history of the Arctic remains generally understudied. In this study, we investigated the demographic history of the northern acorn barnacle, Semibalanus balanoides, a typically boreal species on the Svalbard Archipelago. Our focus was to determine the source and timing of its colonisation of this Arctic archipelago. Using low-coverage whole-genome sequence data, we evaluated two competing hypotheses: whether S. balanoides populations colonised Svalbard through ancient natural processes before the Anthropocene, or if their appearance is more recent, either natural or a consequence of growing anthropogenic influences, such as increased connectivity and global warming. Our results suggest that this boreal species expanded into the Arctic during the later phase of the Holocene Thermal Optimum, well before human-induced climate change.

We present a genome assembly from a specimen of Patella ulyssiponensis (China Limpet; Mollusca; Gastropoda; Patellidae). The genome sequence has a total length of 693.56 megabases. Most of the assembly (99.78%) is scaffolded into 8 chromosomal pseudomolecules. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled, with a length of 14.94 kilobases. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 21 151 protein-coding genes.

Eve Caroline Southward (1930–2023) was a multi-talented scientist, motivated by her curiosity and love of nature. Since she was never paid as a scientist, Eve was an amateur, in the best sense of the word. She was highly proficient at transmission electron microscopy and made lasting contributions to polychaete taxonomy, morphology and ecology. Eve was internationally respected, especially for her studies on the Siboglinidae, mouthless and gutless tubeworms (formerly called Pogonophora) that are found worldwide in the deep-sea. She described how the siboglinids obtained nutrition from symbiotic, sulphur-oxidising bacteria and described similar symbiotic relationships in several bivalve species. Eve wrote over 140 scientific publications and described 56 new benthic species, 47 being mouthless and gutless ‘pogonophores’. Eve assisted her husband Alan Southward in starting broad-scale intertidal surveys around the British Isles and Northwest Europe. These surveys formed the foundation for the time-series, later continued by others, that allowed assessments of the influence of climatic fluctuations, using intertidal rocky shore biota as indicators. Eve contributed, with Alan, to what became a 50-year study describing the long-term effects on intertidal communities of the oil pollution and excessive dispersant use resulting from the Torrey Canyon oil spill in 1967. Eve also co-wrote the Linnaean Society Synopsis on Echinoderms of the British Isles and helped complete unpublished work by Alan Southward and others on barnacle taxonomy.

We present a genome assembly from an individual Terebella lapidaria (segmented worm; Annelida; Polychaeta; Terebellida; Terebellidae). The genome sequence spans 765.20 megabases. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 16 chromosomal pseudomolecules. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 15.97 kilobases in length.

We present a genome assembly from an individual Steromphala cineraria (the grey topshell; Mollusca; Gastropoda; Trochida; Trochidae). The genome sequence is 1,270 megabases in span. Most of the assembly (99.23%) is scaffolded into 18 chromosomal pseudomolecules.

Ocean warming and acidification, decreases in dissolved oxygen concentrations, and changes in primary production are causing an unprecedented global redistribution of marine life. The identification of underlying ecological processes underpinning marine species turnover, particularly the prevalence of increases of warm-water species or declines of cold-water species, has been recently debated in the context of ocean warming. Here, we track changes in the mean thermal affinity of marine communities across European seas by calculating the Community Temperature Index for 65 biodiversity time series collected over four decades and containing 1,817 species from different communities (zooplankton, coastal benthos, pelagic and demersal invertebrates and fish). We show that most communities and sites have clearly responded to ongoing ocean warming via abundance increases of warm-water species (tropicalization, 54%) and decreases of cold-water species (deborealization, 18%). Tropicalization dominated Atlantic sites compared to semi-enclosed basins such as the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas, probably due to physical barrier constraints to connectivity and species colonization. Semi-enclosed basins appeared to be particularly vulnerable to ocean warming, experiencing the fastest rates of warming and biodiversity loss through deborealization.

We present a genome assembly from an individual Patella depressa (the black-footed limpet; Mollusca; Gastropoda; Patellogastropoda; Patellidae). The genome sequence is 683.7 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 9 chromosomal pseudomolecules. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 20,502 protein coding genes.