Netherlands Evolutionary Biology Prize
Since 2019, NLSEB awards a prize for the best peer-reviewed paper in evolutionary biology published each year. This Netherlands Evolutionary Biology Prize is awarded to the first or last author of the selected paper in recognition of their achievement. In addition to the prize of EUR 500, the winner is invited to present their paper in a 20 minutes plenary lecture at the next NLSEB meeting.
Winner of the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology 2024 Prize
The winner of the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology prize for the best publication in evolutionary biology published in 2024 is:
The prize has been awarded to the first author, Pasha van Bijlert, who carried out this work as part of his PhD project at Utrecht University.
This study answers the question why birds - in contrast to humans - use grounded running, that is why they keep one foot on the ground while running. Using a 3D modelled bird, reconstructed based on CT-scans, the researchers varied relevant parameters and measured the optimal running mode. Some simplifications were made, but the model captured the essential features relevant for solving the ground-running paradox. Grounded running is an attractive running style for animals whose muscles function optimally in crouched postures. It is in agreement with well-established fatigue minimization strategies. The models developed are supported by fossilized non-avian dinosaur footprints. The jury found the illustrations and supporting videos very clear and helpful for understanding the content of this publication.
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Duur Aanen, Barbara Gravendeel and Daniel Rozen
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Jury of the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology Prize 2024
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Abstract:
Humans and birds use very different running styles. Unlike humans, birds adopt “grounded running” at intermediate speeds—a running gait where at least one foot always maintains ground contact. Avian grounded running is a paradox: Animals usually minimize locomotor energy expenditure, but birds prefer grounded running despite incurring higher energy costs. Using predictive gait simulations of the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae), we resolve this paradox by demonstrating that grounded running represents an optimal gait for birds, from both energetics and muscle excitations perspectives. Our virtual experiments decoupled effects of posture and tendon elasticity, biomechanically relevant anatomical features that cannot be isolated in real birds. The avian body plan prevents (near) vertical leg postures, making the running style used by humans impossible. Under this anatomical constraint, grounded running is optimal if the muscles produce the highest forces in crouched postures, as is true in most birds. Shared anatomical features suggest that, as a behavior, avian grounded running first evolved within non-avian dinosaurs.
Past winners
Winner of the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology 2023 Prize
The winner of the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology prize for the best publication in evolutionary biology published in 2023 is:
The prize has been awarded to the first author, Shixiong Cheng, who carried out this work as part of his PhD project at Leiden University.
The paper presents a comprehensive study of the mechanism and genetics of developmental timing in flour beetles. The methods employed start with exploring natural variation, followed by the creation of multi-generation lines selected for fast or slow embryonic development, re-sequencing, RNAseq, RNAi and genetic dissection using crispr-cas. The results are a detailed molecular explanation of an important life-history trait and trade-off. The paper shows that a 222 bp deletion in a major-effect gene, that advances embryonic ecdysone peaks, accelerates larval development at the cost of fecundity. The results obtained raise new questions about the common view that life-history traits are generally highly polygenic, rather than coded for by single genes. The jury found the integrative approach impressively complete and a text book example of how to combine experimental evolution with follow-up research to study mechanisms.
Duur Aanen, Barbara Gravendeel and Daniel Rozen
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Jury of the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology Prize 2023
Winner of the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology 2022 Prize
The winner of the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology prize for the best publication in evolutionary biology published in 2022 is:
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The prize has been awarded to the first author, Julian Vosseberg, who carried out this work as part of his PhD project at Utrecht University.
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The paper describes the results of a sophisticated and robust bioinformatic analysis of genomic data of duplicated genes, to shed new light on genomic events that took place during the transition from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. This transition is still poorly resolved. Enabled by the growing availability of sequenced genomes, the authors reconstructed ancestral intron positions in the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor. They show that many introns were present already early in the transition from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. This finding raises interesting new questions, for instance: how were proteins produced correctly in these genomes with introns, that pre-date the origin of the complex spliceosome? The jury found the analysis of this paper of high quality, and an excellent example of how the growing availability of genome information can be interrogated to learn about genomic processes in our first eukaryotic ancestors
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Duur Aanen, Liedewij Laan and Koen Verhoeven
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Jury of the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology Prize 2022
Winner of the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology 2021 Prize
The winner of the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology prize for the best publication in evolutionary biology published in 2021 is:
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The prize has been awarded to the senior author, Jean-Christophe Billeter, from the University of Groningen.
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The publication unravels a mechanism in Drosophila that solves a fundamental dilemma of mate choice: how can females make sure that they are choosy enough to mate with a high-quality partner, without running the risk of remaining unmated because they are too choosy? The answer to this dilemma, at least for species that can store sperm from multiple matings such as the fruit fly, is to be not choosy with first matings, but to become increasingly choosy with subsequent matings. This publication unravels the mechanism of such plasticity in female choosiness that is mating status-dependent. After mating, a sex peptide from the male ejaculate upregulates a hormone that desentisizes the female olfactory receptors to male pheromones. As a result, mated females are attracted only to males that produce more pheromones, which is a proxy for male quality. The work integrates theory and mechanism, and is impressive in its empirical unraveling of the mechanism of plasticity in female choosiness. The empirical demonstration of this mechanism uses a series of elegant experiments that are diverse and comprehensive: multi-layered evidence is provided by a combination of behavioural assays, functional genetics, single neuron manipulations, electrophysiology, pharmaceutical treatments, analytic chemistry, and RNA-sequencing. The work is proximate in nature, but has important implications for understanding mate choice and its evolution. For instance, it can explain how sexual selection can be relaxed to avoid extinction when population density is low. It also emphasizes that sexual selection can be the domain of mated, not virgin, females, which has ramification for the evolution of male sexual traits.
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Jury of the 2021 NL Evol Biol Prize: Prof. Paulien Hogeweg, Dr. Marjon de Vos and Dr. Koen Verhoeven
At the NLSEB2022 meeting on 28 June 2022 at Akoesticum (Ede), Jean-Christophe was aware the prize (€500) and gave a plenary lecture on his prize-winning work
Winner of the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology 2020 Prize
Congratulations to Zheren Zang for winning the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology 2020 prize! The award includes a cash prize of €500 and the offer to present a plenary lecture at NLSEB2021.
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Jury report
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“The winner of the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology prize for the best publication in evolutionary biology published in 2020 is:
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The prize will be awarded to the first author, Zheren Zhang, who did this work as a PhD student at the Leiden University Institute of Biology. The publication describes the discovery of a fascinating mechanism of division of labor in bacteria, which provides new insight into bacterial social evolution. Colonies of the multicellular Streptomyces coelicolor produce hypermutant cell types that show frequent genomic deletions, rearrangements and amplifications. These cell types suffer strongly reduced sporulation, becoming effectively sterile, but show an increase in the production and diversity of antibiotic compounds, which provides competitive benefits in the soil environment. While a trade-off between sporulation and antibiotic production is evident at the individual level, the colony shows no reduction in spore production as long as the hypermutant antibiotic-producing cells remain a minority fraction, while the whole colony benefits in competitive environments from the antibiotics produced by these cells. The resulting division of labor, including the production of a terminally differentiated “sterile caste”, closely parallels related behaviors in social insects, and seems to develop de novo in colonies via the production of hypervariable mutants with unstable genomes. The study exposed this phenomenon using a combination of different methods, including genomic sequencing, bacterial growth and fitness assays, proteomics and NMR profiling. The results are well-presented and convincing. The jury was excited about the novelty of the mechanism that was discovered. This work clarifies why and how division of labor develops within colonies, and highlights the sophisticated social strategies that can evolve in microbes.”
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Prof. Paulien Hogeweg, Dr. Marjon de Vos and Dr. Koen Verhoeven
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Jury of the 2020 Netherlands Evolutionary Biology prize
Winner of the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology 2019 Prize
Congratulations to Langqing Liu for winning the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology 2019 prize! The award includes a cash prize of €500 and the offer to present a plenary lecture at NLSEB2021, as NLSEB2020 was canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions.
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Jury report
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“The winner of the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology prize for the best publication in evolutionary biology published in 2019 is the paper by Langqing Liu and coauthors: Genomic analysis on pygmy hog reveals extensive interbreeding during wild boar expansion (Nature Communications 10, Article number: 1992 (2019)). This paper analyzes the genomes of the endangered Pygmy hog, and compares them to the genomes of individuals from nine other wild pig species, to reconstruct the evolutionary history of pig species. This evolutionary history is characterized by the recent successful expansion of one species, Wild boar, across a large geographic range, which completely replaced other pig species from the area; the Pygmy hog is the only surviving pig species that has not gone extinct in the Wild boar expansion area. The paper demonstrates that the expanding Wild boar did not simply replace the existing species, but it ‘absorbed’ them: clear evidence is presented of admixture between Wild boar and other pig species that it encountered during colonization, including Pygmy hog, whereby Wild boar incorporated genetic information from these other species into its genome. The authors argue that such admixture can have contributed significantly to the colonizing success of Wild boar, as the incorporation of genetic information from other species can have provided a genetic basis for adaptation to local environments encountered during colonization. The paper is a well-written and exciting example of how new genomic information can be used to infer evolutionary histories of species, and moreover to address the role that admixture plays in successful colonization. The jury was impressed by the comprehensive population genomic analyses, which produced clear results. These results have broad impact on the question what makes some species successful colonizers, which is a question that is relevant in many taxa.”
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Prof. Paulien Hogeweg, Prof. Sander Tans and Dr. Koen Verhoeven
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Jury of the Netherlands Evolutionary Biology prize