Our preprint describes how #EffectivePopulationSize affects #AminoAcid usage. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.02.01.526552v2. Within highly exchangeable pairs of amino acids, high Ne species are able to prefer #arginine over #lysine, and #valine over #isoleucine. This matches #thermophile preferences, as expected from theories of marginal protein stability at mutation-selection-drift balance. 1/6
@hanonmcshea #NearlyNeutralTheory #MolecularEvolution #EvolgenPaper

• What kind of life do we expect in hot environments?

We expect LUCAs. Last Universal Common Ancestors (not my little brother). LUCA was probably attracted to heat (thermophile).

• What does a #thermophile look like?

We need something resistant: so we are likely looking for an #archaea!