03/13/2026
Research Article
Microbial dysbiosis alters chemical cues in the oral microbiome, but how commensals sense these changes is unclear. Guillaume Cerckel, Pascal Hols and co-workers find that Streptococcus salivarius detects dysbiosis metabolites and repurposes a peptide quorum-sensing receptor to drive sustained antibacterial predation, revealing a new form of interspecies chemical communication.
Image credit: pbio.3003718
Current Issue February 2026
03/12/2026
Research Article
The medial geniculate body in the auditory thalamus is an important early node in sound processing, but the roles of different neuron types in this brain region are not clear. This study in mice, Solymar Rolón-Martínez, Austin Mendoza, Julie Haas, Maria Geffen and co-authors, characterizes two key inhibitory neuron types, revealing their distinct connectivity and effects on sound processing.
Image credit: pbio.3003693
03/12/2026
Research Article
Stress impacts navigational performance and involves cortisol release, but how cortisol impacts brain functions supporting navigation remains unclear. This study in men, by Osman Akan, Christian Merz and colleagues, shows that cortisol administration impairs path integration, a specific navigational process, and reduces grid-like brain activity patterns in the entorhinal cortex, offering new insights into the effects of stress on navigation.
Image credit: pbio.3003661
03/10/2026
Preregistered Research Article
Parental age and inbreeding have substantial fitness effects in animals both in nature and lab conditions, and can change with temperature, but how these factors affect fitness in insects remain unclear. This pre-registered study, by Tom Tregenza, Jelle Boonekamp and co-workers, explores whether inbreeding and parental age have ecologically significant effects on wild cricket fitness.
Image credit: WildCrickets.org
03/10/2026
Research Article
Could the shape of phylogenetic trees contain hidden information? Siqi Liu, Sarah Svensson and Daniel Falush show that the "backboned" shape of the phylogenetic tree of the important human pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae may reveal a history of diversifying selection on an unknown trait.
Image credit: pbio.3003672
03/10/2026
Short Reports
Closely related species often exhibit distinct morphologies. Kenta Tomihara, Ana Pinharanda, Takashi Kiuchi, Peter Andolfatto and co-authors uncover the genetic basis of caudal horn size differences between the domesticated silk moth and its wild relative, revealing cis-regulatory changes in Wnt genes as key drivers of morphological evolution without widespread deleterious effects.
Image credit: pbio.3003605
03/10/2026
Consensus View
This Consensus View introduces EEICAT, a framework for assessing how biological invasions affect species, ecosystems and the environment, to help scientists and managers compare and address invasion-driven changes.
Image credit: Laís Carneiro
03/03/2026
Perspective
Monoclonal antibody therapies are being developed to treat recent measles resurgence. This Perspective argues that such therapies risk driving measles virus evolution in ways that could override the protection offered by vaccination.
Image credit: Wikimedia Com. user Ooligan
03/03/2026
Perspective
Creating generalizable models is a conserved aim in deep learning; however, misleading claims of transferability threaten to obfuscate reliable performance evaluation. This Perspective article outlines the severity of this issue in the biosciences, and suggests potential solutions.
Image credit: Wikimedia Com. user Lollixzc
03/02/2026
Essay
Anthropogenic change can lead to behavioral homogenization, the human-driven convergence of behavioral traits across individuals, populations, and species, often in urban environments. This Essay describes these changes and discusses their ecological and evolutionary consequences.
Image credit: pbio.3003689
This PLOS Biology collection aims to shine a light on the many facets of immunometabolism, highlighting how molecular and cellular mechanisms impact diverse tissue and organismal functions and the exciting potential for leveraging immunometabolism for therapeutic interventions.
Recent technological advancements in omics have unveiled the mechanisms governing tumor progression across spatial and temporal scales. This collection reveals the complexities of the crosstalk between cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment.
Neurotechnology offers unprecedented opportunities to treat neural disorders, restore brain function and enhance cognitive abilities. This collection explores the present and possible futures of neurotechnology to improve human health and cognition.
Translating conservation and biodiversity research from the field into the real world is a complex problem. This collection discusses issues around economics, policy, and how to do research that answers questions that decision makers have.
Symbiosis research has become a holistic and pervasive field with a mature theoretical basis. This collection showcases symbiotic relationships across the tree of life, exploring their evolutionary basis and underlying mechanisms.
March 16 - 17
(Attended remotely) Contact Magazine section Senior Editor Joanna Clarke (jclarke@plos.org)
March 22 - 25
Meet Senior Editor Ines Alvarez-Garcia (ialvarez-garcia@plos.org)
May 5 - 7
Meet Editor in Chief Nonia Pariente (npariente@plos.org)
May 11 - 15
Meet Associate Editor Melissa Vazquez Hernandez (mvazquezhernandez@plos.org)
May 18 - 22
Meet Senior Editor Ines Alvarez-Garcia (ialvarez-garcia@plos.org)
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