Current Biology最新文献

{"title":"Blue-lined octopus Hapalochlaena fasciata males envenomate females to facilitate copulation.","authors":"Wen-Sung Chung, Nyoman D Kurniawan, N Justin Marshall, Fabio Cortesi","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.027","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A variety of phylogenetically distant taxa, including flatworms, mollusks, amphibians, and fishes, use the deadly neurotoxin tetrodotoxin (TTX) for predation and defense¹. A well-known example is the blue-lined octopus, Hapalochlaena fasciata (Hoyle, 1886), which uses symbiotic bacteria to sequester TTX in its posterior salivary glands (PSG)². When it bites, the TTX-laden saliva immobilizes large prey and has caused lethal envenomation in a few incidents involving humans³. Female blue-lined octopuses are about twice the size of males, which bears the risk of males being cannibalized during reproduction⁴. Surprisingly, we found that the PSG of males is roughly three times heavier than that of females. Using laboratory mating experiments, we show that males use a high-precision bite that targets the female's aorta to inject TTX at the start of copulation. Envenomating the females renders them immobile, enabling the males to mate successfully.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":"35 5","pages":"R169-R170"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143604130","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 superior colliculus.","authors":"Jennifer L Hoy, Karl Farrow","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.022","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The superior colliculus ('colliculus'), or optic tectum, is a highly conserved area of the brain that is critical for the organization and control of attention and orienting behaviors. It lies at the top of the midbrain and our understanding of its structure and function is based on work from many vertebrate species including: lampreys, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, rodents and primates. In each of these species, its well defined set of visual inputs and strong links to motor functions have provided much insight into how the circuits of the brain link sensory inputs with behavior to help animals interact with the world. Although often thought of as a primitive structure guiding reflexive and instinctive behaviors, the colliculus is well connected with the rest of the brain and plays an important role in a diverse set of important behavioral and cognitive functions.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":"35 5","pages":"R164-R168"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143604136","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":"Hawaiian love songs: Coevolutionary conflict between mate attraction and parasite escape.","authors":"Ronald R Hoy","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.038","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The recent introduction of an acoustic parasitoid fly to Hawaii has profoundly disrupted the singing behavior of the Island's only field cricket, resulting in a coevolutionary arms race involving rapid alteration of both the songs the crickets produce and the ability of eavesdropping flies to hear the songs.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":"35 5","pages":"R189-R191"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143604162","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":"Population genomics: A new chapter for Marchantia biology.","authors":"Facundo Romani","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.060","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The liverwort Marchantia polymorpha has become a powerful model organism for plant biology. Researchers are now exploring its potential as a model system for population genomics to understand natural variation and climate adaptation in non-seed plants.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":"35 5","pages":"R194-R195"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143604174","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":"Adaptive evolution of CENP-T modulates centromere binding.","authors":"Damian Dudka, Alexandra L Nguyen, Katelyn G Boese, Océane Marescal, R Brian Akins, Ben E Black, Iain M Cheeseman, Michael A Lampson","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.017","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.017","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Centromeric DNA and proteins evolve rapidly despite conserved function in mediating kinetochore-microtubule attachments during cell division. This paradox is explained by selfish DNA sequences preferentially binding centromeric proteins to disrupt attachments and bias their segregation into the egg (drive) during female meiosis. Adaptive centromeric protein evolution is predicted to prevent preferential binding to these sequences and suppress drive. Here, we test this prediction by defining the impact of adaptive evolution of the DNA-binding histone fold domain of CENP-T, a major link between centromeric DNA and microtubules. We reversed adaptive changes by creating chimeric variants of mouse CENP-T with the histone fold domain from closely related species, expressed exogenously in mouse oocytes or in a transgenic mouse model. We show that adaptive evolution of mouse CENP-T reduced centromere binding, which supports robust female gametogenesis. However, this innovation is independent of the centromeric DNA sequence, as shown by comparing the binding of divergent CENP-T variants to distinct centromere satellite arrays in mouse oocytes and in somatic cells from other species. Overall, our findings support a model in which selfish sequences drive to fixation, disrupting attachments of all centromeres to the spindle. DNA sequence-specific innovations are not needed to mitigate fitness costs in this model, so centromeric proteins adapt by modulating their binding to all centromeres in the aftermath of drive.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"1012-1022.e5"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11903153/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143413200","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":"Neural and behavioral evolution in an eavesdropper with a rapidly evolving host.","authors":"Aaron W Wikle, E Dale Broder, James H Gallagher, Jimena Dominguez, Mikayla Carlson, Quang Vu, Robin M Tinghitella, Norman Lee","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.019","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.019","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The diversification of animal communication systems is driven by the interacting effects of signalers, signal receivers, and the environment. Yet, the critical role of unintended receivers, like eavesdropping enemies, has been underappreciated. Furthermore, contemporary evolution of animal signals is rare, making it difficult to directly observe this process. Ormiine parasitoid flies rely exclusively on acoustic cues to locate singing male orthopteran hosts. In Hawaii, selection imposed by Ormia ochracea has led to recent and rapid diversification of their local host crickets' song. We use complementary lab and field experiments to understand how receiver psychology (sensory and cognitive mechanisms) evolves to accommodate a new host and the evolution of that host's signal. Receiver psychology is critical to our understanding of host-parasite coevolution and animal communication, as the sensory system establishes the limits of behavioral responses that exert selection on signals. We demonstrate that the neural auditory tuning and behavior of O. ochracea have evolved in Hawaii, and these differences likely facilitate the detection of novel host songs. Further, the recently evolved songs are highly variable among males, and flies prefer novel songs with particular spectral characteristics, enabling us to predict how eavesdroppers may shape host song evolution. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence for rapid evolution in the sensory tuning of an eavesdropper. Our work links the evolution of sensory systems, signals, and behavior, heeding the recent call for better integration of sensory and cognitive mechanisms of receivers into our understanding of the evolution of animal communication.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"1074-1084.e7"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143472349","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":"Erin Saupe.","authors":"Erin Saupe","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.047","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Interview with Erin Saupe, who studies the interactions between life and environments over geological time scales and how species respond to changes in climate at the University of Oxford.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":"35 5","pages":"R161-R162"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143604157","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":"Long-term memory facilitates spontaneous memory usage through multiple pathways.","authors":"Levi Kumle, Joel Kovoor, Rhianna L Watt, Sage E P Boettcher, Anna C Nobre, Dejan Draschkow","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.045","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.045","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Memories scaffold ongoing cognition and behavior.¹^,²^,³^,⁴^,⁵ Surprisingly, when given the \"sensorimnemonic\" choice⁶ between using working memory (WM) and sampling sensory information from the environment, reliance on WM is much lower than expected.⁷^,⁸^,⁹^,¹⁰^,¹¹^,¹²^,¹³ Here, we ask how the availability of long-term memory (LTM), alongside WM, changes how participants spontaneously sample sensory information in service of memory encoding, rely on their memory, and coordinate the two. Participants copied a model display by selecting realistic objects from a resource pool and placing them into a workspace.¹³^,¹⁴ We tracked head, hand, and eye movements during free-flowing interactions with the virtual environment. To test the contributions of LTM engagement during natural behavior, we manipulated the repetition of stimulus arrangements over 2 days and used novel arrangements as a baseline. LTM availability had multiple consequences, resulting in an increased reliance on memory content. Further, LTM improved the efficiency of sensory sampling, evidenced by shorter encoding times of repeated objects. In the extreme, mnemonic sampling directly substituted sensory sampling, as some objects were not sampled at all before successful copying in repeated trials. These changes unfolded concurrently within the same task. Finally, incidentally formed memories during the task were accessible for explicit report. Performance in a subsequent surprise memory task showed that participants placed more objects correctly in repeated arrangements. Our findings demonstrate concurrent spontaneous deployment of multiple LTM mechanisms, alongside WM and sensory processing, showcasing impressive flexibility in balancing the engagement of sensory and different types of memory information to guide adaptive behavior. VIDEO ABSTRACT.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"1171-1179.e5"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143536817","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":"Diversification of social complexity following a major evolutionary transition in bees.","authors":"Ohad Peled, Gili Greenbaum, Guy Bloch","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.009","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>How social complexity evolved remains a long-standing enigma. In most animal groups, social complexity is typically classified into a few discrete classes. This approach is oversimplified and constrains our inference of social evolution to a narrow trajectory consisting of transitions between classes. Such categorical classifications also limit quantitative studies on the molecular and environmental drivers of social complexity. The recent accumulation of relevant quantitative data has set the stage to overcome these limitations. Here, we propose a data-driven, high-dimensional approach for studying the full diversity of social phenotypes. We curated and analyzed a comprehensive dataset encompassing 17 social traits across 80 species and studied the evolution of social complexity in bees. We found that honey bees, stingless bees, and bumble bees underwent a major evolutionary transition ∼80 mya, inconsistent with the stepwise progression of the social ladder conceptual framework. This major evolutionary transition was followed by a phase of substantial phenotypic diversification of social complexity. Other bee lineages display a continuum of social complexity, ranging from solitary to simple societies, but do not reach the levels of social complexity seen in honey bees, stingless bees, and bumble bees. Bee evolution, therefore, provides a remarkable demonstration of a macroevolutionary process in which a major transition removed biological constraints and opened novel evolutionary opportunities, driving the exploration of the landscape of social phenotypes. Our approach can be extended to incorporate additional data types and readily applied to illuminate the evolution of social complexity in other animal groups.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"981-993.e5"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143398585","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":"Pre-exposure to stress reduces loss of community and genetic diversity following severe environmental disturbance.","authors":"Charles C Y Xu, Vincent Fugère, Naíla Barbosa da Costa, Beatrix E Beisner, Graham Bell, Melania E Cristescu, Gregor F Fussmann, Andrew Gonzalez, B Jesse Shapiro, Rowan D H Barrett","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.037","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.037","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Environmental stress caused by anthropogenic impacts is increasing worldwide. Understanding the ecological and evolutionary consequences for biodiversity will be crucial for our ability to respond effectively. Historical exposure to environmental stress is expected to select for resistant species, shifting community composition toward more stress-tolerant taxa. Concurrent with this species sorting process, genotypes within resistant taxa that have the highest relative fitness under severe stress are expected to increase in frequency, leading to evolutionary adaptation. However, empirical demonstrations of these dual ecological and evolutionary processes in natural communities are rare. Here, we provide evidence for simultaneous species sorting and evolutionary adaptation across multiple species within a natural freshwater bacterial community. Using a two-phase stressor experimental design (acidification pre-exposure followed by severe acidification) in aquatic mesocosms, we show that pre-exposed communities were more resistant than naive communities to taxonomic loss when faced with severe acid stress. However, after sustained severe acidification, taxonomic richness of both pre-exposed and naive communities eventually converged. All communities experiencing severe acidification became dominated by an acidophilic bacterium, Acidiphilium rubrum, but this species retained greater genetic diversity and followed distinct evolutionary trajectories in pre-exposed relative to naive communities. These patterns were shared across other acidophilic species, providing repeated evidence for the impact of pre-exposure on evolutionary outcomes despite the convergence of community profiles. Our results underscore the need to consider both ecological and evolutionary processes to accurately predict the responses of natural communities to environmental change.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"1061-1073.e4"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143398696","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}