Published in PLoS Biology
Snake fungal disease is an emerging disease in eastern North America, but the origins of the disease have been unclear. This study uses population genetic data to show that the fungus that causes the disease was introduced multiple times to North America over the last few hundred years.
Published in PLoS Biology
This Primer explores a PLOS Biology study which uses ultrastructure expansion microscopy to study the inner scaffold of the photoreceptor connecting cilium, the location of multiple proteins implicated in inherited forms of progressive sight loss such as retinitis pigmentosa and Leber congenital amaurosis.
Published in PLoS biology
Understanding tropical biology is important for solving complex problems such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and zoonotic pandemics, but biology curricula view research mostly via a temperate-zone lens. Integrating tropical research into biology education is urgently needed to tackle these issues.
Published in PLoS biology
Inherited retinal degeneration due to loss of photoreceptor cells is a leading cause of human blindness. These cells possess a photosensitive outer segment linked to the cell body through the connecting cilium (CC). While structural defects of the CC have been associated with retinal degeneration, its nanoscale molecular composition, assembly, and ...
Published in PLoS Biology
Does cellular senescence contribute to developmental birth defects? This study shows that valproic acid induces cellular senescence in neuroepithelial cells, the precursors of all adult brain cells, and blocks their differentiation, suggesting that aberrant senescence in the embryo may contribute to postnatal cognitive defects.
Published in PLoS Biology
Gamma oscillations (30-80 Hz) in visual cortex have been hypothesized to play an important role in feature binding, but this role has recently been questioned. This study shows that visual stimulus-induced gamma oscillations are highly attenuated with even small discontinuities in the stimulus. This "resonant" behaviour can be explained by a simple...
Published in PLoS Biology
This study examines how context modulates the valence of individual odorants in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, revealing that context-dependent engagement of distinct intracellular signaling pathways within a single sensory neuron type is sufficient to switch olfactory preference behavior to an individual odorant from attraction to aversion.
Published in PLoS Biology
The polyol pathway, which converts glucose to fructose via sorbitol, was thought to be largely silent, and only the negative effects of its activation were known. This study reveals that the polyol pathway is involved in glucose-responsive activation of Mondo/ChREBP-mediated metabolic remodeling in both mice and flies.
Published in PLoS Biology
The authors of this Essay examine whether action potentials cause consciousness in a three-step thought experiment that assumes technology is advanced enough to fully manipulate our brains.
Published in PLoS Biology
This study shows that transgenic overexpression of siRNA pathway factors in mosquitoes mediates a broad-spectrum antiviral action against human pathogenic viruses such as dengue, Zika and Chikungunya virus, with implications for novel arbovirus control strategies; the siRNA pathway also regulates antimicrobial immune responses against bacterial and...
