09/12/2018
research article
Alessandro Uboldi, Christopher Tonkin and co-workers find that the cAMP-dependent protein kinase A enables human parasite Toxoplasma gondii to establish a replicative niche in newly invaded host cells by switching off calcium signaling.
Image credit: pbio.2005642
Current Issue August 2018
09/12/2018
research article
Shin Hayase, Kazuhiro Wada and colleagues show that a vocal learner, the zebra finch, actively controls its vocal learning plasticity through self-motivated vocal practice; during the critical period of song learning, vocal practice influences the expression dynamics of activity-dependent, but not age-related genes.
Image credit: Flickr user Paul Balfe & pbio.2006537
09/12/2018
methods and resources
Yong Zeng, Shiyan Wang, Housheng Hansen He and co-workers describe a refined version of the MeRIP-seq protocol, allowing the detection of the N6-methyladenosine RNA modification (epitranscriptome profiling) in samples where limited material is available, such as patient tumors.
Image credit: pbio.2006092
09/13/2018
methods and resources
Michael Boucher, Ellen Yeh and colleagues use a combination of proximity biotinylation-based proteomics and machine learning to improve the accuracy of the apicoplast proteome in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, identifying proteins of potential biological and therapeutic interest.
Image credit: pbio.2005895
09/12/2018
research article
Yinuo Wang, Wendy Gilbert and colleagues show that the previously uncharacterized yeast protein Lso2 and its human ortholog CCDC124 bind to a universally conserved region of the ribosome; Lso2 is required in yeast for global translation during recovery from extended starvation.
Image credit: pbio.2005903
09/10/2018
research article
The NF-κB family of transcription factors regulate cellular responses to a wide variety of environmental cues. Mingming Zhao, Ranjan Sen and co-workers reveal a time-dependent cascade of NF-κB-dependent gene expression in activated B lymphoma cells and identify mechanisms by which these unique kinetic patterns are established.
Image credit: pbio.2006347
09/12/2018
formal comment
This Formal Comment questions a claim made in a recent Essay that the microbiome affects our concept of ‘self,’ and challenges the resulting call for ‘microbial humanities. Also read the response.
Image credit: pbio.2005358
09/04/2018
Short Reports
Human T cells show restricted activation in the presence of fibroblastic reticular cells from lymphoid organs. This suppression can be reversed in live tissue slices by using inhibitors.
Image credit: Sara Cruz Migoni
09/04/2018
Perspective
National funders, the EC and the ERC announce plans to make Open Access publishing mandatory for recipients of their agencies’ research funding.
Image credit: Pixabay and Wikimedia Commons
09/17/2018
plos biologue
In the 8th of our 12 blog posts to mark our 15th anniversary, Harmit Malik explores the use of the AVIDA "digital organism" platform to probe the Faustian evolutionary deal struck between somatic and germ cells.
Image credit: pbio.1001859
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.
John Ioannidis explores the study of research itself: its methods, reporting, reproducibility, evaluation, and incentives.
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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