Current Biology最新文献

{"title":"Biological rhythms: In the sea, two clocks are better than one.","authors":"Victoria Louis, Patrick Emery","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.05.021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.05.021","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>How marine species cope with both diurnal and tidal cycles is unclear. A new study in crustaceans identifies distinct brain cells that exhibit either 24- or 12.4-hour rhythms of gene expression, thus providing a mechanism for tracking multiple environmental cycles.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":"35 12","pages":"R620-R623"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144483615","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 expanded Bostrychia moritziana genome unveils evolution in the most diverse and complex order of red algae.","authors":"Romy Petroll, John A West, Michael Ogden, Owen McGinley, Rory J Craig, Susana M Coelho, Michael Borg","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.044","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.044","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Red algae are an ancient eukaryotic lineage that were among the first to evolve multicellularity. Although they share a common origin with modern-day plants and display complex multicellular development, comprehensive genome data from the most highly evolved red algal groups remain scarce. Here, we present a chromosome-level genome assembly of Bostrychia moritziana, a complex red seaweed in the Rhodomelaceae family of the Ceramiales-the largest and most diverse order of red algae. Contrary to the view that red algal genomes are typically small, we report significant genome size expansion in Bostrychia and other Ceramiales, which represents one of at least three independent expansion events in red algal evolution. Our analyses suggest that these expansions do not involve polyploidy or ancient whole-genome duplications, but in Bostrychia rather stem from the proliferation of a single lineage of giant Plavaka DNA transposons. Consistent with its enlarged genome, Bostrychia has an increased gene content shaped by de novo gene emergence and amplified gene families in common with other Ceramiales, providing insight into the genetic adaptations underpinning this successful and species-rich order. Finally, our sex-specific assemblies resolve the UV sex chromosomes in Bostrychia, which feature expanded gene-rich sex-linked regions. Notably, each sex chromosome harbors a three amino acid loop extension homeodomain (TALE-HD) transcription factor orthologous to ancient regulators of haploid-diploid transitions in other multicellular lineages. Together, our findings offer a unique perspective of the genomic adaptations driving red algal diversity and demonstrate how this red seaweed lineage can provide insight into the evolutionary origins and universal principles underpinning complex multicellularity.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"2771-2788.e8"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144062851","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":"Balanced synapse-to-synapse short-term plasticity ensures constant transmitter release.","authors":"Krisha Aghi, Ryan Schultz, R Steven Stowers, William YuChen Liu, Philipe R F Mendonça, Rachel Li, Dariya Bakshinska, Zachary L Newman, Ehud Y Isacoff","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.05.024","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.05.024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Synaptic strength can vary greatly between synapses. Optical quantal analysis at Drosophila glutamatergic motor neuron synapses shows that short-term plasticity also varies greatly between synapses, even those made by an individual motor neuron. Strong and weak synapses are randomly distributed in the motor neuron nerve terminal, as are facilitating and depressing synapses. Although synapses exhibit highly heterogeneous basal strength at low-action potential firing frequency and undergo varied plasticity when firing frequency increases, the overall distribution of strength across synapses remains remarkably constant due to a balance between the number of synapses that facilitate versus depress and to their degree of plasticity and basal synaptic weight. Constancy in transmitter release can ensure robustness across changing behavioral conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"2881-2892.e6"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144224733","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":"Towering behavior and collective dispersal in Caenorhabditis nematodes.","authors":"Daniela M Perez, Ryan Greenway, Thomas Stier, Narcís Font-Massot, Assaf Pertzelan, Siyu Serena Ding","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.05.026","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.05.026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Dispersal behavior allows organisms to find new resources under harsh conditions¹^,²^,³^,⁴^,⁵; collective dispersal in group-living organisms raises interesting questions about kin selection, cooperation, and social conflicts that offer an exciting window into the evolution of sociality.³^,⁵ One type of collective dispersal is when individuals physically link their bodies into a super-organism and move as a group, but these phenomena are rare in nature and few empirical systems exist to enable their mechanistic dissection.⁶^,⁷^,⁸^,⁹^,¹⁰^,¹¹ Individuals of many nematode species can group together and self-assemble into a living tower of worms, which is hypothesized to be a collective dispersal structure.¹²^,¹³^,¹⁴^,¹⁵^,¹⁶ However, direct evidence demonstrating the occurrence and the function of towers in nature has been scarce. We documented towering behavior under natural, semi-natural, and laboratory conditions to confirm its existence and then manipulated these towers to confirm that they can bridge gaps and respond to external stimuli to confer group dispersal by phoresy. Having established the ecological and functional relevance of nematode towers, we developed a laboratory towering assay with the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to exploit its experimental capabilities. Our lab assay rapidly and robustly induces towering and reveals several fundamental characteristics of both the towers and the constituent individuals, which together demonstrate the high experimental potential of using our model and the ample future research avenues that it opens. In summary, combining ecological relevance and empirical possibilities, our work sets the key foundations to establish nematode towering behavior as a powerful opportunity to elucidate the ecology, the mechanisms, and the evolution of collective dispersal.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"2980-2986.e4"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144246956","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":"Cell division: Tissue mechanics guide division plane selection to avoid four-way junctions.","authors":"Sabine Müller","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.020","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Plant cells are encased in load-bearing cell walls. A new study shows that the biophysical properties at the junctions between three cell walls generate an inhibitory field that continuously guides the expanding cell plates away from these tricellular junctions during cytokinesis.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":"35 12","pages":"R608-R610"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144483581","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":"Ecology: Genomic erosion of mountain grassland plants in greener pastures.","authors":"Maria Dance","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.05.007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.05.007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mountain grasslands are home to important plant species but are threatened by land-use and climate change. A new study integrates satellite and genomic data, revealing how increased vegetation productivity threatens diversity in a grassland herb. These findings provide insight into the role of remote sensing in conserving biodiversity.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":"35 12","pages":"R623-R625"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144483583","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":"Daniel J.C. Kronauer.","authors":"Daniel J C Kronauer","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.025","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Interview with Daniel Kronauer, who studies the evolution and function of insect societies at Rockefeller University.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":"35 12","pages":"R592-R594"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144483582","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 cellular substrate of evolutionary novelty.","authors":"Joseph Parker, Matt Pennell","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.014","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.014","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A major challenge in biology is comprehending how complex multicellular novelties evolve. Central to this problem is explaining how qualitatively new phenotypic traits - typically the focus of comparative developmental and macroevolutionary studies above the species level - can become established through population genetic processes. Here, we suggest that a resolution may be found by acknowledging the fundamental entities from which functional organismal phenotypes are constructed. We argue that these are not genes, proteins or cell types, but rather gene expression programs (GEPs): sets of co-expressed transcripts that collectively encode cellular subfunctions. We advance that, because GEPs are the smallest, elemental functional units underlying phenotypes, it follows that they represent the substrate upon which population genetic processes must act to explain the origin of evolutionary novelty at the cellular level and above. Novelty arises through the evolution of novel GEPs, through novel synergisms between GEPs that become co-expressed within the same cell or through interactions between different GEPs juxtaposed in cooperating cells within organs. The revolution in single cell biology offers the chance to trace evolution at the resolution of GEPs in populations and across clades, potentially unifying our view of multicellular phenotypic evolution.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":"35 12","pages":"R626-R637"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12201239/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144483594","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":"Conserved mechanical hallmark guides four-way junction avoidance during plant cytokinesis.","authors":"Elsa Gascon, Camila Goldy, Alexis Lebecq, Samantha Moulin, Guillaume Cerutti, Vincent Bayle, Florian Gacon, Amelie Bauer, Aurélie Fangain, Romain Azaïs, Olivier Ali, Marie-Cécile Caillaud","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.046","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.046","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>When building an organ, adjacent cells coordinate to form topologically stable junctions by integrating mechanosensitive signaling pathways. Positioning the newly formed tricellular junction in walled multicellular organisms is critical, as cells cannot migrate. The cell division site must avoid existing cellular junctions to prevent unstable four-way junctions. The microtubule preprophase band (PPB) is a guideline for the plant cell's future cell division site. Yet, mutants impaired in PPB formation hardly display defects, suggesting the presence of an alternative mechanism. Here, we report the existence of a process that guides the cell division site close to an adjacent tricellular junction. This PPB-independent mechanism depends on the phosphoinositide phosphatase SUPPRESSION OF ACTIN 9 (SAC9): in the Arabidopsis mutant sac9-3, the cell plate abnormally attaches at two equidistant positions from an adjacent tricellular junction. Numerical simulations suggest that elastic energy accumulation at the subcellular level within walls, due to their rheological response to mechanical stresses, could act as positional cues revealing the positions of tricellular junctions. Moreover, perturbation of the root mechanical homeostasis results in four-way junction formation. This provides a scenario in which cells avoid four-way junction formation during cytokinesis through discrete subcellular mechanical hallmarks.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"2789-2801.e6"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143962538","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":"Dynamic point-light cloths generate rich percepts beyond biology.","authors":"Merve Erdogan, Wenyan Bi, Ilker Yildirim, Brian J Scholl","doi":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.060","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.060","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Visual processing seems specialized for perceiving other agents,¹^,² as in biological motion perception: displays of surprisingly few moving dots (\"point-light walkers\"; PLWs) give rise to rich percepts of locomoting agents.³ Despite hundreds of experiments over decades of research,⁴^,⁵^,⁶ a foundational question remains unanswered: how specific are such phenomena to biological motion? Addressing this question has been historically challenging, largely due to the absence of non-biological comparison stimuli-since the translation or rotation of rigid objects (as in \"structure-from-motion\" displays⁷^,⁸) lacks the rich relative motion of the points that is characteristic of PLWs. Here, to fill this gap, we introduce the perception of rich behavior from dynamic point-light cloths (PLCs)-as when a ribbon (or a sheet on a clothesline) is waving in the wind. Across 13 preregistered experiments, while focusing on several of the most foundational properties of biological motion, we found broad similarities between PLWs and PLCs-in terms of both experimental results and phenomenological demonstrations: percepts from PLCs (1) arise spontaneously and robustly, even in dynamic noise; (2) depend on cohesive relative motion, since they disappear both in static displays and in dynamic displays with spatially scrambled points; (3) do not require consistent local motion, since they persist in \"limited-lifetime\" displays; and (4) extend to rich secondary properties such as a fabric's stiffness. These results collectively demonstrate that, even beyond agents and biology, the visual system extracts rich structure from surprisingly limited input.</p>","PeriodicalId":11359,"journal":{"name":"Current Biology","volume":" ","pages":"2967-2973.e3"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144119188","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}