05/21/2019
Research Article
The protein kinase mTOR is believed to mediate most of the effects of the drug rapamycin, but Xiaoli Zhang, Wei Chen, Benfang Ruan, Haoxing Xu and co-authors identify MCOLN1, a lysosome-localized calcium channel that plays essential roles in autophagy and lysosome function, as a novel molecular target of rapamycin.
Image credit: pbio.3000252
Current Issue April 2019
05/17/2019
Methods and Resources
Carlos Guardia, Juan Bonifacino and co-workers show that reversibly coupling intracellular organelles to microtubule motors, using streptavidin-biotin chemistry, enables the analysis of the relationship between organelle positioning and function.
Image credit: pbio.3000279
05/21/2019
Research Article
Jacob Steenwyk, Chris Todd Hittinger, Antonis Rokas and colleagues show that a lineage in the budding yeast genus Hanseniaspora has remarkably high evolutionary rates, low GC content, small genome sizes, and lower gene numbers than the rest of the subphylum. Analysis of 25 genomes reveals that this lineage has survived and diversified for tens of millions of years despite lacking dozens of cell cycle and DNA repair genes normally thought to be essential.
Image credit: pbio.3000255
05/21/2019
Community Page
Gaurav Byagathvalli, Aaron Pomerantz, Soham Sinha, Janet Standeven, and Saad Bhamla describe a low-cost 3D-printed centrifuge to enable sequencing in remote field conditions and lowering the barrier to synthetic biology research in high schools to broaden participation in hands-on STEM.
Image credit: Aaron Pomerantz, M. Saad Bhamla
05/20/2019
Meta-Research Article
This systematic review by Gillian Currie, Andrew Rice, Emily Sena and colleagues assesses limitations in the experimental design of studies modelling peripheral neuropathy induced by chemotherapy. The data allow the authors to provide guidance on experimental design to improve the robustness and validity of future studies.
Image credit: pone.0170814
05/20/2019
Research Article
The variant histone H2A.Z is essential for the viability of metazoans. The structure of H2A.Z-H2B histone dimer in complex with the chaperone Chz1, by Yunyun Wang, Zheng Zhou and co-workers, reveals the basis of Chz1’s specificity for recognising H2A.Z. In vitro studies show that Chz1 facilitates H2A.Z deposition by relieving the inhibitory effects of excess free histone dimers.
Image credit: pbio.3000277
05/21/2019
Community Page
Richard Abdill and Ran Blekhman describe Rxivist.org, a new website that indexes all bioRxiv preprints and allows users to filter and sort papers based on download metrics and Twitter activity.
Image credit: Rxivist screenshot
05/22/2019
Editorial
Our experiment with contextualised publication, whereby potentially controversial studies are published with a Primer in which the Academic Editor guides the reader, dissects the study, and lays out the thinking behind the decision to publish.
Image credit: Anna Miska-Alvarez
05/20/2019
Research Article
Modelling cortico-cortical networks of microstructural similarity reveals consistent gradients of microstructural differentiation running from sensory to transmodal cortices, and allows single-subject investigation of structure-function correspondence.
Image credit: pbio.3000284
05/23/2019
Research Article
Bacterial lineages maintain replicative immortality by reaching an equilibrium between aging and rejuvenation; when this equilibrium is disrupted, aging lineages cross their immortality threshold, becoming mortal.
Image credit: Flickr NIAID
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.
Rodrigo Almeida argues that considering the social context of emerging plant diseases and effective science communication are essential for the management epidemics.
Meet Senior Editor Ines Alvarez-Garcia in Keystone, CO.
January 27-31, 2019
Meet Senior Editor Lauren Richardson in La Jolla, CA.
January 22-24, 2019
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