07/28/2022
Research Article
Mohammad Zeeshan, Rita Tewari and colleagues reveal that kinesins in the malaria parasite Plasmodium have diverse cellular roles and locations, including functions in spindle assembly during proliferation, axoneme formation in flagellum biogenesis, and determining the apical morphology of the cell.
Image credit: pbio.3001704
Current Issue June 2022
07/28/2022
Short Reports
Voice perception occurs via specialized networks in higher order auditory cortex, but how voice features are encoded remains a central unanswered question. Using human intracerebral recordings of auditory cortex, Kyle Rupp, Taylor Abel and co-workers provide evidence for categorical encoding of voice. Also read the accompanying Primer by Benjamin Morillon, Luc Arnal and Pascal Belin.
Image credit: pbio.3001742
07/27/2022
Research Article
Knowing which viruses are primed for zoonotic transmission can focus surveillance efforts and mitigation strategies for future pandemics. Sarah Roelle, Kenneth Matreyek and co-authors show that SARS-like coronaviruses identified in bats from Europe and Africa can use a range of horseshoe bat ACE2s for entry. In addition, viruses found in Russia and Kenya also have the ability to at least weakly use human ACE2.
Image credit: pbio.3001738
07/26/2022
Essay
Will gene editing contribute to improved crop diversity and climate resilience? In this Essay, Sarah Garland and Helen Curry look at lessons from past biotechnology efforts to inform action for the future.
Image credit: pbio.3001716
07/25/2022
Methods and Resources
Plasmid transfer can often spread resistance between important clinical pathogens. Olivia Kosterlitz, Benjamin Kerr and colleagues show that widely used methods can lead to biased estimates of plasmid transfer rate by several orders of magnitude, and present a new approach, inspired by the classic Luria-Delbrück approach, for accurately assessing this fundamental rate parameter.
Image credit: pbio.3001732
07/25/2022
Research Article
Sickness is an internal state that impacts consumption, and so could be expected to influence the neural processing of tastes. Bradly Stone, Donald Katz and co-workers show that onset of illness changes basic properties of gustatory cortical network processing and taste responses, such that activity comes more purely to reflect the "goodness" or "badness" of tastes.
Image credit: pbio.3001537
07/21/2022
Discovery Report
GR64 genes are normally involved in taste sensation in flies, but this study reveals a surprising role in regulating proteostasis and cell survival in epithelial cells during proteotoxic stress. Also read the accompanying Primer.
Image credit: pbio.3001710
07/21/2022
Unsolved Mystery
Evidence suggests that an imbalance between production and clearance of amyloid-beta is an early, invariant feature of Alzheimer's disease. This article asks why we are still unable to slow cognitive decline with anti-amyloid therapies.
Image credit: pbio.3001694
07/20/2022
Primer
This Primer explores two new studies, one in PLOS Biology, showing that ~130 yeast mRNAs contain dihydrouridine, a derivative of uridine. Functional studies show that dihydrouridine, in some cases, can affect mRNA splicing.
Image credit: pbio.3001720
07/19/2022
Research Article
A theoretical model explains the formation and extension of non-recombining regions in sex chromosomes and supergenes. Read also the related Primer.
Image credit: iStock.com
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.
August 7-12
Meet Senior Editor Kris Dickson
August 7-10
Meet Associate Editor Luke Smith (remote)
September 4-9
Meet Senior Editor Paula Jauregui
September 5-8
Meet Associate Editor Richard Hodge
September 9-11
Meet Senior Editor Joanna Clarke
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