10/11/2018
research article
A study of sleep in lizards by Paul-Antoine Libourel, Anthony Herrel, Pierre-Hervé Luppi and co-workers shows that, as in mammals and birds, two distinct sleep states exist, suggesting that this is an ancestral feature of amniotes; however the phenotype of these states differs between closely related species.
Image credit: Flickr used Renee Grayson
Current Issue September 2018
10/12/2018
perspective
Tom Maloney, Ryan Phelan and Naira Simmons call upon the biomedical industry to convert from using horseshoe crab blood for endotoxin detection to a recombinant-based synthetic alternative, showing that it has equivalent or superior efficacy.
Image credit: Timothy Fadek
10/08/2018
short Report
Robert Zarnowski, David Andes and co-workers show that the development of biofilm in the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans induces packaging of distinct vesicle cargoes that play a role in extracellular matrix biogenesis.
Image credit: pbio.2006872
10/08/2018
Research Article
Suchismita Panda, Meenakshi Setia, LC Padhy, Anjali Shiras and colleagues show that the noncoding RNA Ginir functions as an oncogene, triggering dysregulation of mitosis by disrupting the interaction between Cep112 and Brca1, and causing malignant transformation.
Image credit: pbio.2004204
10/09/2018
primer
Edward Chuong discusses the implications of a new study which finds that gestation length in primates is regulated by an enhancer element derived from an ancient retrovirus. Read the related Short Report.
Image credit: Joanna Malinowska, Freestocks.org
10/09/2018
editorial
Liza Gross introduces a Collection of articles in which authors explore the challenges and pitfalls of communicating the science of climate change in an atmosphere where evidence doesn't matter.
Image credit: NPS Climate Change Response, Flickr
10/09/2018
perspective
Snowballs are weather but glaciers are climate: Stephan Lewandowsky and Lorraine Whitmarsh argues the importance of using appropriate pictures when biologists communicate about climate change to the public.
Image credit: Gary Bembridge
10/09/2018
PERspective
Rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic is altering marine mammal habitats. Sue Moore and Randall Reeves propose a simple method to assess population status and guide conservation efforts.
Image credit: NOAA
10/09/2018
perspective
Michael Dahlstrom and Dietram Scheufele explore how science can preserve its credibility as curator of knowledge while using a story-based communication format.
Image credit: Jean-Léon Gérôme
10/11/2018
plos biologue
As part of our 15th Anniversary, Mark Estelle discusses how a PLOS Biology Research Article revealed the complexity of auxin transport in plants.
Image credit: Flickr user NOAA
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.
Rodrigo Almeida argues that considering the social context of emerging plant diseases and effective science communication are essential for the management epidemics.
Oswald Schmitz suggests that studying how species produce ecological functions can be like watching jazz musicians improvise as they respond and adapt to one another to create their music.
Meta-research may not be as click-worthy as a meta-pug – a pug dog dressed up in a pug costume – but it is crucial to understanding research, says Lisa Bero in this Research Matters article.
How resistance arises at the cellular level, how it evolves and spreads, and how we can combat it.
How animals combine information from the outside world and from within their own bodies to decide what they should eat.
How the engulfment of a small bacterium by a larger archaeon more than a billion years ago resulted not in death, but in one of the most successful partnerships on earth.
The composition and function of microbiomes are critical for most animals and plants; how do relationships between hosts and microbes evolve over time?
Medics have long recognised the curious power of the placebo. What is known of its biological basis and the complex ethical and practical issues that surround it?
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