09/17/2020
Methods and Resources
Existing methods for identifying efficient combinations of antibiotics are time-consuming and costly, restricting their use in clinics and research. Nikos Fatsis-Kavalopoulos, Dan Andersson and co-authors describe the novel CombiANT methodology, which uses defined diffusion landscapes of three antibiotics to permit rapid and low-cost synergy quantification between all antibiotic pairs.
Image credit: pbio.3000856
Current Issue August 2020
09/16/2020
Research Article
Silkworm larvae are well known for their preference for mulberry leaves; Haruka Endo, Kana Tsuneto, Ryoichi Sato and colleagues show that they choose their food by using a two-factor host acceptance system, deploying two different organs and sets of chemosensory neurons with differing sensitivities operating sequentially in time.
Image credit: Kana Tsuneto
09/14/2020
Community Page
Global change is causing a widespread decline in coral reefs. Didier Zoccola, Denis Allemand and co-authors propose the building of the World Coral Conservatory, a “Noah's Ark” biological repository that taps into the network of the world’s public aquaria and coral reef scientists, in order to preserve the fast-disappearing biodiversity of coral reefs.
Image credit: pbio.3000823
09/14/2020
Research Article
Svenja Saile, Pierre Jacob, Farid El Kasmi and co-workers shows that two intracellular plant Nod-like immune receptor (NLR-) subfamilies act with unequal redundancy in their roles in plant disease resistance to virulent and avirulent pathogens, in effector-triggered immunity induced gene expression and in immunity-associated cell death.
Image credit: pbio.3000783
09/12/2020
Primer
Closed loop experimental configurations can drive chemical systems to become more lifelike by pushing them out of equilibrium; similar experimental arrangements can be applied to biological research. Christopher Forman uses the recently published Chi-Bio system to explore the emerging trend in building open source libraries of hardware which has enabled some excellent science as well as bringing the price tag down.
Image credit: pbio.3000858
09/08/2020
Short Reports
Working memory is imprecise, and these imprecisions can be explained by the combined influences of random diffusive error and systematic drift towards a set of stable states (‘attractors’); however, the neural correlates of diffusion and drift remain unknown. This neuroimaging study by Qing Yu, Timothy Buschman and co-workers reveals neural substrates that underlie noise and biases in behavioral performance of human visual memory.
Image credit: pbio.3000854
09/08/2020
Research Article
SARS-CoV-2 infection induces inflammation by activation of interferon signaling, with differences in host response observed due to sex and age.
Image credit: pbio.3000849
09/08/2020
Research Article
Leiomodin is critical in thin filament assembly and maintenance, but its role is unclear. A 3D model of a complex between leiomodin and the actin pointed end reveals a mechanism for regulating the length of thin filaments in striated muscle.
Image credit: pbio.3000848
09/08/2020
Research Article
Enhancing low-gamma neural oscillations by applying 30-Hz transcranial electrical stimulation to the left auditory cortex improves phonemic processing and reading accuracy in dyslexia.
Image credit: pbio.3000833
09/04/2020
Research Article
Invasion of the bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis enhances the aggressive progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma via the TGFβ/Smad and TGFβ/YAP/TAZ pathways.
Image credit: pbio.3000825
Raquel Lieberman discusses her work on the protein myocilin, implicated in glaucoma, but whose normal function remains unclear after over 20 years.
Susanna Bidgood explores the future of using poxviruses as versatile tools for cell biology research.
Rachel Harding proposes that open notebooks present an opportunity for researchers to showcase their work and rapidly advance science in their field
On the eve of the UN General Assembly meeting on TB, Christoph Grundner urged the need to consider basic research as an essential component of any future anti-TB strategy.
Norman Pace remembers the early days of what became known as "metagenomics," as experienced by the author during his development as a scientist.
Normal service will resume after Covid-19 crisis ends.
Normal service will resume after Covid-19 crisis ends.
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