PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

Neuronal cell cycle reentry events in the aging brain are more prevalent in neurodegeneration and lead to cellular senescence
by Deng Wu, Jacquelyne Ka-Li Sun, Kim Hei-Man Chow Increasing evidence indicates that terminally differentiated neurons in the brain may recommit to a cell cycle-like process during neuronal aging and under disease conditions. Because of the rare existence and random localization of these cells in the brain, their molecular profiles and disease-specific heterogeneities remain unclear. Through a bioinformatics approach that allows integrated analyses of multiple single-nucleus transcriptome datasets from human brain samples, these rare cell populations were identified and selected for further characterization. Our analyses...
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - April 23, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Deng Wu Source Type: research

Lytic bacteriophages induce the secretion of antiviral and proinflammatory cytokines from human respiratory epithelial cells
by Paula F. Zamora, Thomas G. Reidy, Catherine R. Armbruster, Ming Sun, Daria Van Tyne, Paul E. Turner, Jonathan L. Koff, Jennifer M. Bomberger Phage therapy is a therapeutic approach to treat multidrug-resistant (MDR) infections that employs lytic bacteriophages (phages) to eliminate bacteria. Despite the abundant evidence for its success as an antimicrobial in Eastern Europe, there is scarce data regarding its effects on the human host. Here, we aimed to understand how lytic phages interact with cells of the airway epithelium, the tissue site that is colonized by bacterial biofilms in numerous chronic respiratory disord...
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - April 23, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Paula F. Zamora Source Type: research

Optogenetic manipulation of lysosomal physiology and autophagy-dependent clearance of amyloid beta
by Wenping Zeng, Canjun Li, Ruikun Wu, Xingguo Yang, Qingyan Wang, Bingqian Lin, Yanan Wei, Hao Li, Ge Shan, Lili Qu, Chunlei Cang Lysosomes are degradation centers of cells and intracellular hubs of signal transduction, nutrient sensing, and autophagy regulation. Dysfunction of lysosomes contributes to a variety of diseases, such as lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs) and neurodegeneration, but the mechanisms are not well understood. Altering lysosomal activity and examining its impact on the occurrence and development of disease is an important strategy for studying lysosome-related diseases. However, methods to dynamical...
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - April 23, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Wenping Zeng Source Type: research

Mrj is a chaperone of the Hsp40 family that regulates Orb2 oligomerization and long-term memory in < i > Drosophila < /i >
by Meghal Desai, Hemant, Ankita Deo, Jagyanseni Naik, Prathamesh Dhamale, Avinash Kshirsagar, Tania Bose, Amitabha Majumdar Orb2 theDrosophila homolog of cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding (CPEB) protein forms prion-like oligomers. These oligomers consist of Orb2A and Orb2B isoforms and their formation is dependent on the oligomerization of the Orb2A isoform.Drosophila with a mutation diminishing Orb2A ’s prion-like oligomerization forms long-term memory but fails to maintain it over time. Since this prion-like oligomerization of Orb2A plays a crucial role in the maintenance of memory, here, we aim to find what...
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - April 22, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Meghal Desai Source Type: research

The impact of phage and phage resistance on microbial community dynamics
by Ellinor O. Alseth, Rafael Custodio, Sarah A. Sundius, Rachel A. Kuske, Sam P. Brown, Edze R. Westra Where there are bacteria, there will be bacteriophages. These viruses are known to be important players in shaping the wider microbial community in which they are embedded, with potential implications for human health. On the other hand, bacteria possess a range of distinct immune mechanisms that provide protection against bacteriophages, including the mutation or complete loss of the phage receptor, and CRISPR-Cas adaptive immunity. While our previous work showed how a microbial community may impact phage resistance evo...
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - April 22, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Ellinor O. Alseth Source Type: research

CFDP1 regulates the stability of pericentric heterochromatin thereby affecting RAN GTPase activity and mitotic spindle formation
by Gokul Gopinathan, Qian Xu, Xianghong Luan, Thomas G. H. Diekwisch The densely packed centromeric heterochromatin at minor and major satellites is comprised of H3K9me2/3 histones, the heterochromatin protein HP1 α, and histone variants. In the present study, we sought to determine the mechanisms by which condensed heterochromatin at major and minor satellites stabilized by the chromatin factor CFDP1 affects the activity of the small GTPase Ran as a requirement for spindle formation. CFDP1 colocalized with heterochromatin at major and minor satellites and was essential for the structural stability of centromeric heteroc...
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - April 17, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Gokul Gopinathan Source Type: research

How do bacterial endosymbionts work with so few genes?
by John P. McCutcheon, Arkadiy I. Garber, Noah Spencer, Jessica M. Warren The move from a free-living environment to a long-term residence inside a host eukaryotic cell has profound effects on bacterial function. While endosymbioses are found in many eukaryotes, from protists to plants to animals, the bacteria that form these host-beneficial relationships are even more diverse. Endosymbiont genomes can become radically smaller than their free-living relatives, and their few remaining genes show extreme compositional biases. The details of how these reduced and divergent gene sets work, and how they interact with their hos...
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - April 16, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: John P. McCutcheon Source Type: research

Removal of older males increases extra-pair siring success of yearling males
by Emmi Schlicht, Carol Gilsenan, Peter Santema, Agnes T ürk, Andrea Wittenzellner, Bart Kempenaers In animals, reproductive performance typically improves over time early in life. Several ultimate and proximate mechanisms may contribute to such an age-related improvement and these mechanisms can act in a relative or in an absolute sense. Low performance of young individuals may be the consequence of a comparison or competition with older individuals (relative), or it may be due to specific traits of young individuals and be unrelated to the presence of older competitors (absolute). Here, we perform a test to disentangle...
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - April 16, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Emmi Schlicht Source Type: research

Genome-wide association studies have problems due to confounding: Are family-based designs the answer?
by Alexander Strudwick Young Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) can be affected by confounding. Family-based GWAS uses random, within-family genetic variation to avoid this. A study in PLOS Biology details how different sources of confounding affect GWAS and whether family-based designs offer a solution. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) can be affected by confounding, but family-based GWASs use random, within-family genetic variation to avoid this. This Primer explores a study in PLOS Biology which asks how different sources of confounding affect GWASs and whether family-based designs offer a solution. (Sourc...
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - April 12, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Alexander Strudwick Young Source Type: research

A response to “Realism and robustness require increased sample size when studying both sexes”
by Benjamin Phillips, Timo N. Haschler, Natasha A. Karp (Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents)
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - April 12, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Benjamin Phillips Source Type: research

Fitness trade-offs and the origins of endosymbiosis
by Michael A. Brockhurst, Duncan D. Cameron, Andrew P. Beckerman Endosymbiosis drives evolutionary innovation and underpins the function of diverse ecosystems. The mechanistic origins of symbioses, however, remain unclear, in part because early evolutionary events are obscured by subsequent evolution and genetic drift. This Essay highlights how experimental studies of facultative, host-switched, and synthetic symbioses are revealing the important role of fitness trade-offs between within-host and free-living niches during the early-stage evolution of new symbiotic associations. The mutational targets underpinning such tra...
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - April 12, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Michael A. Brockhurst Source Type: research

Fungal holobionts as blueprints for synthetic endosymbiotic systems
by Laila P. Partida-Mart ínez Rhizopus microsporus is an example of a fungal holobiont. Strains of this species can harbor bacterial and viral endosymbionts inherited by the next generation. These microbial allies increase pathogenicity and defense and control asexual and sexual reproduction. Rhizopus microsporus is an example of a fungal holobiont, harboring bacterial and viral endosymbionts. This Perspective article discusses how these microbial allies increase pathogenicity and defense and control asexual and sexual reproduction in the fungus. (Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents)
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - April 12, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Laila P. Partida-Mart ínez Source Type: research

Symbiosis: In search of a deeper understanding
by Thomas A. Richards, Nancy A. Moran How do distinct species cofunction in symbiosis, despite conflicting interests? A new collection of articles explores emerging themes as researchers exploit modern research tools and new models to unravel how symbiotic interactions function and evolve. This editorial discusses a new collection of articles exploring emerging themes in symbiosis research, as researchers exploit modern research tools and new models to unravel how symbiotic interactions function and evolve. (Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents)
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - April 12, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Thomas A. Richards Source Type: research

Realism and robustness require increased sample size when studying both sexes
by Szymon M. Drobniak, Malgorzata Lagisz, Yefeng Yang, Shinichi Nakagawa A recent article claimed that researchers need not increase the overall sample size for a study that includes both sexes. This Formal Comment points out that that study assumed two sexes to have the same variance, and explains why this is a unrealistic assumption. (Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents)
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - April 11, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Szymon M. Drobniak Source Type: research

Interpreting population- and family-based genome-wide association studies in the presence of confounding
by Carl Veller, Graham M. Coop A central aim of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) is to estimate direct genetic effects: the causal effects on an individual ’s phenotype of the alleles that they carry. However, estimates of direct effects can be subject to genetic and environmental confounding and can also absorb the “indirect” genetic effects of relatives’ genotypes. Recently, an important development in controlling for these confounds has been the use of within-family GWASs, which, because of the randomness of mendelian segregation within pedigrees, are often interpreted as producing unbiased estimates of ...
Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - April 11, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Carl Veller Source Type: research