The evolution of sterile worker castes in social insects – like these Polistes dominula wasps – has fascinated biologists ever since Darwin; how can selection favor a trait that decreases reproductive fitness? The previously accepted answer to this puzzle has recently been challenged, generating much controversy, but a re-evaluation now confirms important insights from kin selection and inclusive fitness, such as the importance of relatedness and the existence of conflicts in social insect colonies. See Liao et al.
Image Credit: Ian Sane, Flickr
Synopses
Link between Cell Junctions and Microtubule Cytoskeleton Is Critical for Epithelial Morphogenesis
PLOS Biology: published March 12, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002088
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Education
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Perspectives
Biodiversity Governance: A Tower of Babel of Scales and Cultures
PLOS Biology: published March 12, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002108
Committing to Place: The Potential of Open Collaborations for Trusted Environmental Governance
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The Extent and Consequences of P-Hacking in Science
PLOS Biology: published March 13, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002106
Community Page
Open Labware: 3-D Printing Your Own Lab Equipment
PLOS Biology: published March 20, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002086
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Research Articles
Relatedness, Conflict, and the Evolution of Eusociality
PLOS Biology: published March 23, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002098
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Bistability in a Metabolic Network Underpins the De Novo Evolution of Colony Switching in Pseudomonas fluorescens
PLOS Biology: published March 12, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002109
Viruses Roll the Dice: The Stochastic Behavior of Viral Genome Molecules Accelerates Viral Adaptation at the Cell and Tissue Levels
PLOS Biology: published March 17, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002094
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A Neural Mechanism for Time-Window Separation Resolves Ambiguity of Adaptive Coding
PLOS Biology: published March 11, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002096
The Polarity Protein Scribble Regulates Myelination and Remyelination in the Central Nervous System
PLOS Biology: published March 25, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002107
Cell Cycle–Dependent Differentiation Dynamics Balances Growth and Endocrine Differentiation in the Pancreas
PLOS Biology: published March 18, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002111
Alpha-catenin-Dependent Recruitment of the Centrosomal Protein CAP350 to Adherens Junctions Allows Epithelial Cells to Acquire a Columnar Shape
PLOS Biology: published March 12, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002087
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A Novel Bipartite Centrosome Coordinates the Apicomplexan Cell Cycle
PLOS Biology: published March 3, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002093
A Voltage-Gated Calcium Channel Regulates Lysosomal Fusion with Endosomes and Autophagosomes and Is Required for Neuronal Homeostasis
PLOS Biology: published March 26, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002103
ATPase-Dependent Control of the Mms21 SUMO Ligase during DNA Repair
PLOS Biology: published March 12, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002089
Integration of Shallow Gradients of Shh and Netrin-1 Guides Commissural Axons
PLOS Biology: published March 31, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002119
Formal Comments
Mother and Offspring in Conflict: Why Not?
PLOS Biology: published March 18, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002084
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Coadaptation between Mother and Offspring: Why Not?
PLOS Biology: published March 18, 2015 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002085