Current Biology最新文献

{"title":"Cytokinesis: The proteasome is a cutting-edge abscission timer.","authors":"Iona Lim-Manley, Jeremy G Carlton","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.033","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A new study reveals a key role for the proteasome in promoting cytokinesis via regulating Aurora B levels, and subsequent ESCRT-III function, during abscission.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":"36 19","pages":"R1033-R1036"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149105705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The E3 ubiquitin ligase LOP1 targets PIF4 to control plant morphogenesis.","authors":"Zhaoqing Song, Fengyue Zhao, Yeting Bian, Jie Dong, Dongqing Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.09.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.09.006","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"5124"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148929221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Phylogenomics and museomics reveal five distinct species of tiger cats in South America.","authors":"Jonas Lescroart, Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, Molly Cassatt-Johnstone, Alejandra Bonilla-Sánchez, Caroline Charão Sartor, Fernando Angulo, Jorge L Ramirez, Larissa Rosa de Oliveira, Tadeu Gomes de Oliveira, Beth Shapiro, Enzo Aliaga-Rossel, Hannes Svardal, Eduardo Eizirik","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.059","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.059","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The evolutionary history of elusive organisms can be characterized through genomic analyses, which have the power to reveal previously unknown taxa even in groups assumed to be well studied, such as cats. We have analyzed complete genomes of 38 individuals from the Neotropical cat genus Leopardus, including 26 individuals representing multiple evolutionary units of the contentious tiger cat (Leopardus tigrinus) species complex. Eight genomes were generated from museum specimens, which allowed the first genetic assessment of the type locality for L. tigrinus in the Guiana Shield. We found that this complex comprises five distinct species, including a novel cat species, discovered in the Bolivian Yungas and described in this study as L. tilcayo. The Peruvian Yungas unit of this complex also represents a distinct taxonomic entity, which we describe here as a novel subspecies, L. tigrinus antisuyo. Our phylogenomic analyses resolve the evolutionary relationships among the tiger cat geographic units, thus stabilizing their recalcitrant taxonomy and enabling adequate conservation assessment of these threatened felids. We also address other aspects of their evolution, including biogeography, past episodes of interspecies admixture, demographic history of each taxonomic unit, and temporal changes in genetic diversity. Altogether, our results clarify the evolutionary history of a complex radiation of wild cats, reveal novel taxa, and serve as a basis for conservation planning on behalf of these elusive wild cats.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"5027-5041.e8"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148988660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Free-ranging Manx shearwaters do not rely on magnetic maps or compasses.","authors":"Patrick Lewin, Sarah Bond, Oliver Padget, Stephanie M Harris, Lewis Lancaster-Reeves, Melany de Boer, Patricia P Serafini, Gwennan Hughes, Joe Wynn, Joe Morford, Tim Guilford","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.037","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.037","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Many animals, from moths to sharks, are thought to navigate using the earth's magnetic field.¹^,²^,³^,⁴^,⁵^,⁶^,⁷^,⁸^,⁹^,¹⁰^,¹¹^,¹²^,¹³^,¹⁴^,¹⁵ The field can provide both compass information and-through spatial variation in inclination, declination, and intensity-positional information.¹⁶^,¹⁷ Night-migratory songbirds are sensitive to the inclination of the earth's magnetic field, using this cue as a compass⁵^,¹⁸ and perhaps as part of a map sense.¹³^,¹⁴^,¹⁵ However, without a definitively identified receptor,¹⁸^,¹⁹^,²⁰^,²¹^,²²^,²³^,²⁴^,²⁵ and with mixed evidence from experiments in other birds,²⁶^,²⁷^,²⁸^,²⁹^,³⁰^,³¹^,³²^,³³^,³⁴^,³⁵^,³⁶^,³⁷^,³⁸^,³⁹^,⁴⁰^,⁴¹^,⁴²^,⁴³^,⁴⁴^,⁴⁵^,⁴⁶ avian magnetoreception remains controversial. Following recent observational findings that wild Manx shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus) use geomagnetic inclination to relocate their natal colony after their first migration,⁴⁷ we used this species to conduct the largest magnetic disruption experiment in wild birds to date. We found no effects of magnetic disruption on movement or navigation during the long-distance foraging trips of adult Manx shearwaters. Assessment of effect sizes and confidence intervals suggests that shearwaters do not require geomagnetic cues to home accurately. This demonstrates that at least some birds are capable of remarkable long-distance navigation in the absence of geomagnetic information, and we propose that the field of animal navigation should seek to understand the factors driving the differences in the navigational mechanisms of avian taxa.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"5079-5087.e3"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148918755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ancient genomes reveal an extinct bovine species from mid-latitude Asia.","authors":"Jonas Oppenheimer, Alexandre Gilardet, Maxim B Kozlikin, Pavel Kosintsev, Sergey K Vasiliev, Michael V Shunkov, Georgios Xenikoudakis, Sarah Ford, Katerina Douka, Peter D Heintzman, Beth Shapiro, Love Dalén","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.09.043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.09.043","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A previously undescribed bovine mitochondrial clade, termed yak X, was recently discovered in Pleistocene Asia.¹ However, the genome-wide relationships of this lineage to other bovines remain unclear. Here, we present 20 Middle and Late Pleistocene yak X nuclear genomes that were recovered from Denisova Cave and other sites in mid-latitude Asia and have a temporal span of over 200,000 years. Phylogenetic and population genomic approaches show that yak X was a separate species that began diverging from extant yaks at least 400,000 years ago. We also document a demographic decline in yak X over the Mid-to-Late Pleistocene, along with potential population turnover accompanied by a decrease in genetic diversity around the Last Interglacial (∼130,000 to ∼115,000 years ago). Unlike divergent hominin lineages within Pleistocene Asia,² we find negligible evidence for gene flow between yak X and other bovine species, including steppe bison (Bison priscus) and aurochs (Bos primigenius), despite their geographic and temporal co-occurrence.¹ Our results show that yak X was a distinct species whose disappearance may have previously gone unrecognized during the Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions, and highlight the broader Altai-Sayan region as a hotspot of diversity during the Pleistocene.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149105668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Central amygdala CRF+ neurons tune defensive state stability during threat.","authors":"Camila Demaestri, Yingchu He, Jamie L Maguire","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.038","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.038","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The central amygdala (CeA) is critical for mediating behavioral responses to threat,¹^,² including the coordination of competing freezing and mobile responses through distinct cell types.³^,⁴^,⁵^,⁶ Defensive behavior must remain flexible as threat contingencies change,⁷^,⁸ yet the circuit mechanisms that regulate how threat is translated into appropriate defensive states remain unclear. Using a dual-threat conditioning paradigm, we found that divergence from an immobility-dominant passive phenotype during a temporally immediate threat (delay conditioned stimulus [CS]) toward a more active phenotype during a variable-trace threat (variable trace CS; vTrace) emerged specifically through increased disengagement from immobility. Chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) disrupted this transition-level phenotype in males, thereby promoting immobility persistence that generalized during the trace threat. To identify the circuit mechanisms underlying these effects, we manipulated CeA neurons expressing corticotropin-releasing factor (CeA CRF+) during threat recall using chemogenetics and blocked CRFR1 signaling via systemic administration of the antagonist antalarmin. Silencing CeA CRF+ neurons and CRFR1 antagonism reduced transitions out of immobility without impairing cue discrimination, thus phenocopying the transition-level deficit observed in CUS males. These findings suggest that stress-induced behavioral rigidity, particularly under temporal uncertainty of threat, may arise from impaired CRF-dependent destabilization of passive defensive states. Together, our findings indicate that CeA CRF+ neurons and CRFR1 signaling regulate threat responding by facilitating the transitions out of immobility during threat evaluation. This work identifies CRF signaling as a mechanism that enables defensive responding to adjust to temporal threat contingencies, which may be disrupted in fear-related pathology.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"5088-5098.e3"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148918713","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The teneurin TEN-1 and its ligand LRON-11 support microbiota-induced neuroprotection and mechanosensory function in C. elegans.","authors":"Jingxian Li, Juan Pablo Castillo, Shouqiang Cheng, Indya Weathers, Wioletta I Nawrocka, Jorge Alvarado, Minglei Zhao, Andrea Calixto, Engin Özkan, Demet Araç","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.09.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.09.003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neuroprotection preserves neuronal structure and function by limiting damage and cell death, and diet-associated microbiota produce metabolites capable of influencing neuronal survival.¹^,²^,³ In C. elegans, GABA and lactate produced by E. coli HT115 protect touch receptor neurons (TRNs) from MEC-4(d)-induced degeneration,² and comparative gene-expression analysis identified the teneurin ten-1 as required for this microbiota-induced neuroprotection.³ Teneurins are evolutionarily conserved cell-adhesion molecules that regulate nervous system development, axon guidance, synapse formation, and neuronal connectivity primarily through trans-cellular interactions,⁴^,⁵^,⁶^,⁷^,⁸^,⁹^,¹⁰^,¹¹^,¹²^,¹³^,¹⁴^,¹⁵^,¹⁶^,¹⁷^,¹⁸^,¹⁹^,²⁰^,²¹^,²² and C. elegans, which contains a single teneurin gene, requires TEN-1 for normal nervous system development and tissue organization.⁵^,¹³^,¹⁴^,²³ Although vertebrate teneurins bind latrophilin G protein-coupled receptors,¹⁷^,²¹^,²²^,²⁴ the C. elegans latrophilin homolog LAT-1 acts in parallel to TEN-1,²⁵ leaving the receptor-ligand interactions that underlie TEN-1 function incompletely understood. Here, we identify Leucine-Rich Repeat Only 11 (LRON-11), a previously uncharacterized cell-adhesion molecule, as the ligand for TEN-1. The high-resolution cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of the TEN-1-LRON-11 complex reveals that the leucine-rich repeat domain of LRON-11 directly engages the transthyretin (TTR) domain of TEN-1 through a previously unrecognized interaction interface. Tissue-specific genetic analyses demonstrate that TEN-1 and LRON-11 are required for microbiota-mediated neuroprotection, and structure-guided interface mutations disrupting TEN-1-LRON-11 binding impair normal touch responses in vivo. Together, our findings establish a conserved receptor-ligand signaling axis that supports microbiota-mediated neuroprotection and normal touch responses, revealing how a single receptor-ligand interaction can support distinct neuronal functions.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"5068-5078.e6"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13633843/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149016003","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Independent origins of endodermis in lycopsid and euphyllophyte roots.","authors":"Xilan Yang, Maria Njo, Zishan Fu, Ana Julia Sagasti, Laura M Cooper, Xiao Ma, Ward Poelmans, Riet De Rycke, Hans Motte, Rieko Fujinami, C Jill Harrison, Alexander J Hetherington, Tom Beeckman","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.050","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.050","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The endodermis is a vital barrier tissue in plants, but its origin, evolution, and homologies across land plants remain ambiguous. Here, we implement a multifaceted investigation of the endodermis in lycopsids to shed light on its evolution in roots. We confirmed the presence of an endodermis with Casparian strips (CSs) in two of the three living lineages of lycopsids, while endodermoid layers with polar lignin caps were identified in the Lycopodiaceae. Although lignified tissues, including CSs, can be preserved in fossils, we did not find evidence for either an endodermis or an endodermoid in early fossils spanning the origin of the vascular plant lineage, the divergence of lycophytes and euphyllophytes, or the split of the early lycophytes and lycopsids. Together with evidence from extant lineages, these observations are most consistent with the endodermis having evolved at least twice independently in vascular plants. Expression analysis of homologous genes of the known seed plant regulatory genes SHORT-ROOT (SHR) and SCARECROW (SCR) suggests an ancestral role in defining the boundary between vascular and non-vascular tissues and the independent recruitment in lycopsids and seed plants.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"4979-4991.e3"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148918691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Family identity is represented within vocal categories by the gerbil auditory cortex.","authors":"Estelle E In 't Zandt, Ralph E Peterson, Dan H Sanes","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.028","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.028","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Vocalizations are integral to social communication, with acoustic features that may convey both meaning and information about an animal's identity or emotional state. The neural representation of vocalizations must therefore permit animals to generalize across one set of acoustic features to recognize meaning and a different set of features to recognize vocalizer identity. To test this idea, we recorded the responses of gerbil core auditory cortex (AC) neurons to a large array (n > 1,500) of variants drawn from four vocalization categories and produced by 5 different families. Each vocalization category could be decoded from a small AC population with high accuracy, despite the acoustic variance across vocalization renditions of different families of origin. Further, a larger AC population was required to decode family identity, using a unique set of acoustic features for each category. Thus, AC activity can be used to simultaneously predict vocalization category and family identity and is robust to the natural range of acoustic variance.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"4883-4896.e5"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13628319/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148891290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Experimental evolution reveals genetic routes for adaptive loss of the antibacterial type VI secretion system.","authors":"Boris Taillefer, Jonas B Desjardins, Eric Cascales","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.046","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.046","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a contractile nanomachine used by Gram-negative bacteria to deliver effector proteins into target cells, contributing to both interbacterial competition and pathogenesis. Although T6SS gene clusters are present in recently isolated commensal and pathogenic Escherichia coli strains, they are absent from classical laboratory strains that have been propagated for decades in pure cultures, suggesting that T6SS can be lost in the absence of competition. Here, we combined experimental evolution with whole-genome sequencing to track the fate of the enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) Sci1 T6SS during competition with either T6SS-susceptible or T6SS-immune bacteria. After ∼640 generations, T6SS activity was largely maintained during competition with T6SS-susceptible bacteria, whereas ∼90% of clones evolved with T6SS-immune bacteria lost or attenuated T6SS activity through diverse mutations within the sci1 promoter, essential T6SS structural genes, or the rfaH transcriptional antiterminator. We identified two RfaH-binding ops elements within the sci1 cluster, revealing antitermination as a regulatory element of EAEC T6SS transcription, which is conserved among Enterobacteriaceae. Our findings highlight how experimental evolution can reveal the selective forces shaping T6SS maintenance and identify new regulatory components controlling its activity.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"4953-4964.e6"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148918727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}