Natural selection acts on genetic variants by increasing the frequency of alleles responsible for a cellular function that is favorable in a certain environment. In a previous genome-wide scan for positive selection in contemporary humans, we identified a signal of positive selection in European and Asians at the genetic variant rs10180970. The variant is located in the second intron of the ABCA12 gene, which is implicated in the lipid barrier formation and down-regulated by UVB radiation. We studied the signal of selection in the genomic region surrounding rs10180970 in a larger dataset that includes DNA sequences from ancient samples. We also investigated the functional consequences of gene expression of the alleles of rs10180970 and another genetic variant in its proximity in healthy volunteers exposed to similar UV radiation. We confirmed the selection signal and refine its location that extends over 35 kb and includes the first intron, the first two exons and the transcription starting site of ABCA12 . We found no obvious effect of rs10180970 alleles on ABCA12 gene expression. We reconstructed the trajectory of the T allele over the last 80,000 years to discover that it was specific to H. sapiens and present in non-Africans 45,000 years ago.

A total of eight Ensifer sp. strains were isolated from two pristine cave environments. One strain was isolated from a cave water pool located in the Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, USA and the remaining seven strains were isolated from Lechuguilla Cave of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico, USA. Whole genome sequencing and comparative genomic analyses of the eight isolates compared to various type strains from the genera Ensifer and Sinorhizobium demonstrates that although members in these genera can be phylogenetically separated into two distinct clades, the percentage of conserved proteins (POCP) between various type strains from Ensifer and Sinorhizobium are consistently higher than 50%, providing strong genomic evidence to support the classification of the genera Ensifer and Sinorhizobium into a single genus.