05/02/2024
Research Article
BAK and BAX execute apoptotic cell death by increasing the permeability of the mitochondria outer membrane, a process regulated by interactions with the mitochondrial porin VDAC2. Zheng Yuan, Richard Birkinshaw, Peter Czabotar, Grant Dewson and co-authors map the key residues involved in the BAK:VDAC2 interaction and show that this interaction can be targeted to either promote or inhibit apoptosis.
Image credit: pbio.3002617
Current Issue April 2024
04/30/2024
Methods and Resources
A common challenge encountered by researchers working on cryo-ET data is the incompatibility between different software tools. Lorenzo Gaifas, Irina Gutsche and co-workers develop a napari-based 3D visualization and analysis tool, named blik, that is compatible with commonly used cryo-ET processing packages.
Image credit: pbio.3002447
04/30/2024
Research Article
The human AAA-ATPase VPS4 helps to separate daughter cells at the end of cytokinesis, but it has two paralogs, VPS4A and VPS4B; how do their functions differ? Inbar Dvilansky, Yarin Altaras, Natalie Elia and colleagues show that VPS4A has unique regulatory functions in cytokinesis which VPS4B cannot rescue, explaining the neurodevelopmental defects seen in people with VPS4A mutations.
Image credit: pbio.3002327
04/29/2024
Research Article
Morphogenetic movements can generate forces that pull on adjacent tissues, which can in turn influence cell behaviors through mechanotransduction. Using computational analysis of gastrulating Drosophila embryos, Claire Lye, Bénédicte Sanson and co-authors show that polarized cell intercalation is robust to the pull generated by mesoderm invagination, which however slows down the rate of anterior-posterior cell elongation.
Image credit: pbio.3002611
04/29/2024
Research Article
Brain pericytes are critical regulators of endothelial barrier function. Suchit Ahuja, Sarah Childs and co-workers reveal that expression of the transcription factor nkx3.1 is critical for the generation of an intermediate precursor cell state necessary for the normal development of brain pericytes.
Image credit: pbio.3002590
04/29/2024
Research Article
How do bacteria distribute the use of the lipid carrier UndP to the various pathways that require it? Ian Roney and David Rudner show that the Bacillus subtilis transcription factor sigma-M and its membrane-anchored anti-sigma factor monitor UndP levels and prioritize its use for cell wall synthesis.
Image credit: pbio.3002589
04/16/2024
Unsolved Mystery
This Unsolved Mystery article explores how genome reduction alters endosymbiont biology and highlights a ‘tipping point’ where the loss of the ability to build a cell envelope coincides with a marked erosion of translation-related genes.
Image credit: pbio.3002577
04/12/2024
Editorial
Thomas Richards and Nancy Moran discuss our new collection of articles exploring emerging themes in symbiosis research, as researchers exploit modern research tools and new models to unravel how symbiotic interactions function and evolve.
Image credit: Estelle Kilias
04/12/2024
Perspective
Rhizopus microsporus is a fungal holobiont, harboring bacterial and viral endosymbionts. Laila Partida-Martínez explores how these microbial allies increase pathogenicity and defense and control reproduction in the fungus.
Image credit: pbio.3002587
04/12/2024
Essay
Endosymbiosis is common and has played an important role in the evolution of complex life. Michael Brockhurst, Duncan Cameron and Andrew Beckerman explore the theory and experimental evidence for trade-offs in the early-stage evolution of endosymbiosis.
Image credit: pbio.3002580
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.
PLOS Biology is 20 and we are celebrating with a collection that contains articles that look back at landmark studies that we published, others that look past and future, and others discussing how publishing and open science have evolved and what is to come.
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This collection explores engineering strategies to help us adapt plants to a changing climate, including breeding techniques, genome engineering, synthetic biology and microbiome engineering.
The green collection explores biological solutions that could be applied to reduce CO2 emissions, get rid of non-degradable plastics, produce food in a sustainable manner or generate energy.
This collection explores potential solutions to mitigate the impacts of human activity on ocean ecosystems to minimize or reverse degradation.
May 6 - 8
Meet Senior Editor Richard Hodge (rhodge@plos.org)
May 19 - 24
Meet Editor in Chief Nonia Pariente (npariente@plos.org)
May 29 - Jun 2
Meet Senior Editor Luke Smith (lsmith@plos.org)
June 9 - 14
Meet Senior Editor Ines Alvarez-Garcia (ialvarez-garcia@plos.org)
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