These papers were selected from multiple disciplines from the Faculty of 1000, a Web-based literature awareness tool http://www.facultyof1000.com.

M. Matsuzaki et al., "Genome sequence of the ultrasmall unicellular red alga Cyandidioschyzon merolae 10D," Nature, 428:653–7, April 8, 2004.

Cyanidioschyzon is an extremophilic alga that lives in conditions of high temperature and low pH. It has either maintained ancestral eukaryotic features or, more likely, has become simplified due to its specialized life-style. ... Perhaps most interesting from an evolutionary point of view is the observation that Cyanidioschyzonshares many genes involved in plastid function and import with land plants, further supporting a common origin of the organelle in these taxa.

- Debashish Bhattacharya, University of Iowa

S. Pfeffer et al., "Identification of virus-encoded microRNAs," Science, 304: 734–6, April 30, 2004.

This very interesting paper shows that the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome encodes at least five microRNAs. Until now,...