Biological Reviews最新文献

{"title":"Beyond synapses: cytoplasmic connections in brain function and evolution","authors":"Malalaniaina Rakotobe,&nbsp;Chiara Zurzolo","doi":"10.1111/brv.70034","DOIUrl":"10.1111/brv.70034","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Following Ramón y Cajal's groundbreaking contributions to the identification of synapses, research in neuroscience predominantly focused on their pivotal role in neural communication (the neuron doctrine), overlooking an intriguing possibility suggested by Golgi of non-synaptic interactions among neural cells. Recent studies across species have unveiled the existence of direct cellular communication through modalities such as intercellular bridges (IBs) formed during incomplete cytokinesis, <i>de novo</i> tunnelling nanotubes (TNTs), and cytoplasmic connections arising from cell–cell fusion. In this review, we delve into these non-synaptic modes of communication between neural cells, describing their morphological features and functional significance. Notably, we discuss recent <i>in vivo</i> findings in ctenophores and in mice which offer fresh insights into the evolutionary functions of these intercellular connections. These findings underscore the need to consider the roles of cytoplasmic connections in neural cell communication during brain development and in pathophysiological conditions. This review highlights the importance of investigating these non-synaptic communication pathways to improve our understanding of neural communication and evolution in metazoans.</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":"100 5","pages":"2055-2070"},"PeriodicalIF":11.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/brv.70034","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144293000","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":"A conceptual framework for conserving giant panda habitat: restoration and connectivity.","authors":"Biao Yang, Weirui Qin, Mingxia Fu, Yu Xu, Lifeng Zhu, Han Pan, Zhangmin Chen, Qiang Dai, Zhisong Yang, Xiaodong Gu, Yuhong Fan, Xiling Xiong, Tao Ruan, Zejun Zhang","doi":"10.1111/brv.70048","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70048","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>China's conservation initiatives for the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) over the past three decades have yielded remarkable success, transforming the species from a symbol of endangered wildlife to a conservation triumph. As wild populations recover and the Giant Panda National Park is established, the focus of conservation has shifted from basic ecological studies to the more complex challenges of restoring ecologically functional forests, mitigating habitat fragmentation, and integrating broader ecosystem conservation efforts. To sustain and build on these successes, our analysis delves into the anthropogenic drivers of habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation within giant panda habitats. We document the transformations these habitats have undergone, categorizing the outcomes into eight distinct types: bare lands, residential areas, roads, farmlands, shrub-grasslands, bamboo thickets, secondary forests, and monoculture plantations. These outcomes are shaped by a combination of natural disturbances and both direct and indirect human activities. We propose eight policy recommendations for habitat restoration, tailored to the specific context of habitat loss, fragmentation, or degradation. These include restricting infrastructure development, converting agricultural lands to suitable habitats, reducing human disturbances, eliminating grazing, applying conservation education and ecological compensation, establishing habitat corridors, promoting natural habitat regeneration, and implementing technical habitat restoration interventions. Particularly in enhancing technical restoration efforts, we outline strategies focused on restoring community function and ensuring effective implementation, supported by a pilot study that introduced optimized restoration strategies, and followed-up monitoring using species diversity, community structure, and ecological processes to evaluate the success of restoration efforts. Finally, we highlight key areas of research necessary to deepen our understanding and inform future management strategies. This comprehensive framework underscores both the theoretical foundations and practical approaches to giant panda habitat conservation, addressing not only immediate concerns but also opportunities to protect other sympatric species. The broader implications of this review extend to the conservation of large mammals and their ecosystems globally, providing valuable insights for conservation practitioners and policymakers.</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144264922","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":"Re-make, re-model: evolution and development of vertebrate cranial lateral lines.","authors":"Vishruth Venkataraman, Marco Lopez, Victoria E Prince, Michael I Coates","doi":"10.1111/brv.70045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70045","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Lateral lines are placodally derived mechanosensory systems on the heads and trunks of many aquatic vertebrates. There is evidence of lateral lines in the earliest known vertebrate fossils, and they exist in organisms with widely different craniofacial morphologies - including the presence or absence of jaws, external or internal nostrils, and variable positions of the cranial cartilages with respect to eyes and braincase. Consequently, the lateral lines make an ideal study system to understand how morphological variation in a deeply conserved sensory system responds to overall evolution of the head. However, palaeontological and developmental data have not been integrated to elucidate the history of this system in the context of evolving vertebrate crania. The emergence of new imaging techniques and molecular methods to study ontogeny in non-model systems provides unique opportunities for such a study. This review examines open questions in light of new fossil discoveries that have altered our understanding of vertebrate evolution as well as new insights on the development of non-model taxa. We find that the diversity of lateral lines is not the result of simplification from a complex ancestral condition as previously supposed. Rather, the anterior lateral line systems of living gnathostomes result from an evolutionary episode of reduction and reassembly, both preceding and overlapping the origin of jawed vertebrates. This event is coupled to a marked postorbital to orbital-preorbital shift in the territorial elaboration of the lateral line systems, and we argue that this spatial move likely signals functional change, coinciding with a major enhancement of the gnathostome vestibular system.</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144245428","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":"Ecosystem services provided by spiders.","authors":"Pedro Cardoso, Stano Pekár, Klaus Birkhofer, Angela Chuang, Caroline Sayuri Fukushima, Eileen A Hebets, Yann Henaut, Thomas Hesselberg, Jagoba Malumbres-Olarte, Ondřej Michálek, Radek Michalko, Catherine Scott, Jonas Wolff, Stefano Mammola","doi":"10.1111/brv.70044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70044","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Spiders, ubiquitous and abundant predators in terrestrial ecosystems, often are the subjects of an unjust negative perception. However, these remarkable creatures stand as unsung heroes within our ecosystems, contributing a multitude of ecosystem services critical to human well-being. Here, we describe the diverse spectrum of ecosystem services offered by spiders and their potential to inspire or directly provide nature-based solutions. Provisioning services include the versatile uses of silk-like and other materials, inspiration for biomimetic technology, medicines derived from venom, hemolymph and silk, bio-insecticides that offer eco-friendly alternatives to synthetic chemicals, food sources for various human communities worldwide, and unconventional yet increasingly valued pets. Regulating services provided by spiders extend to vital roles in pest suppression across diverse agricultural settings, mitigating diseases by curbing insect-mediated pathogen dispersal, and controlling invasive species. Supporting services offered by spiders are equally extensive, involving nutrient cycling through the breakdown of organic matter, acting as food sources for predators, or creating habitats for other organisms. Beyond their tangible contributions, spiders hold a significant cultural and spiritual heritage globally and are integral to many traditional medicine practices. They inspire contemporary culture, provide educational value, contribute to mental health improvement, evoke a sense of place, offer models for scientific discovery, and are commonly employed for monitoring biodiversity and ecosystem health. To pave the way for future research, we present suggestions for exploring and quantifying the economic value of ecosystem services by spiders. While many of these services are well established and studied from various perspectives, others harbour untapped potential. Leveraging what nature inherently provides, these nature-based solutions offer avenues to address challenges such as biodiversity erosion and societal needs. By restoring, preserving, or mimicking natural processes of spiders, we can enhance or provide essential ecosystem services, harnessing the full potential of spiders and the web of benefits they bring us.</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144207254","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":"Reversibility of sex changes in the plant kingdom: more important than we thought?","authors":"Iris Sammarco, Eliška Krtilová, Marek Slovák, Clément Lafon Placette","doi":"10.1111/brv.70043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70043","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Compared to animals, plants show a wide range of reproductive strategies with different degrees of sex separation (e.g. dioecy, monoecy, hermaphroditism). While sex expression was previously thought to be genetically determined and fixed in plants, accumulating evidence suggests that sex expression can change reversibly even within one generation (sex changes), involving non-genetic factors (i.e. environment and epigenetics). In addition, recent work suggests that sex determination itself relies on epigenetic factors. Therefore, in this review, we propose that the border between sex changes and the apparently \"fixed\" determination of sexes is less clear than previously thought, as they rely on similar mechanisms, in particular epigenetics. Specifically, we propose that within-generation sex changes may facilitate evolutionary transitions between different degrees of sex separation via the assimilation of epimutations into genetic mutations. We then evaluate the (mal)adaptive potential of sex changes. We conclude that in the face of global environmental changes, sex changes may follow a bet-hedging evolutionary strategy, that is a heritable ability to reverse sexes. Sexual bet-hedging with an epigenetic basis (via stochastic epimutations) may help plants alleviate the deleterious consequences of climate change.</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144197840","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 stepwise rise of angiosperm-dominated terrestrial ecosystems","authors":"Wenna Ding,&nbsp;Daniele Silvestro,&nbsp;Renske E. Onstein,&nbsp;Mengxiao Wu,&nbsp;Zhekun Zhou,&nbsp;Yaowu Xing","doi":"10.1111/brv.70039","DOIUrl":"10.1111/brv.70039","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Angiosperms are the most diverse and abundant plant taxon today and dominate the majority of Earth's terrestrial ecosystems. They underwent rapid divergence and biogeographic expansion from the early to the middle Cretaceous. Yet, transformative ecosystem change brought about by the increased ecological dominance of angiosperms unfolded progressively until the Late Cretaceous. After the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary, angiosperms restructured terrestrial ecosystems towards a modern form. By the Neogene, crown groups that make up modern terrestrial angiosperm biodiversity radiated, and regional floristic distinctions were established concurrently with the steepened latitudinal and vertical temperature gradients. Here, we summarize, based on fossils and molecular evidence, when and how angiosperms came to diversify, dominate, and shape terrestrial ecosystems, leading to the emergence and spread of angiosperm-dominated floras. We highlight five major phases of angiosperm evolution that took place against a background of palaeogeography and climate changes. There is a consistent delay in ecological dominance after lineage origination and taxonomic diversification, as a result of which angiosperms did not achieve ecological dominance across terrestrial biomes in a single step. The patterns of diversity seen among extant angiosperms, the dominant angiosperm groups within modern ecosystems, and the restriction of different groups of angiosperms to different parts of the world, reflect the contingent nature of the process of lineage diversification in the context of long-term, substantial and ongoing environmental change. Determining the origins, diversification, and ecological dominance of angiosperms continues to be a challenge and requires elucidation of their early forms, functions, habitats, and environmental interactions throughout evolutionary history.</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":"100 5","pages":"2131-2149"},"PeriodicalIF":11.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/brv.70039","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144179731","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":"Effective dispersal of fern spore and the ecological relevance of zoochory","authors":"James M. R. Brock","doi":"10.1111/brv.70038","DOIUrl":"10.1111/brv.70038","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The mechanisms of fern dispersal are under-studied and there are few data to support the vectors assumed to drive patterns of sporophyte occurrence and speciation. Although wind is generally the fern spore dispersal vector described in the literature, there has always been competing evidence supporting alternate vectors. Despite this, established patterns of dispersal are generally discussed in the context of wind. The assumptions around wind as a dispersal vector and the possibilities of single-spore establishment have confounded discussions on effective dispersal of fern spore, fern meta-population dynamics, and fern speciation. In this study, I review (<i>i</i>) the importance of spore load across taxa, (<i>ii</i>) evidence for vectors of fern spore, (<i>iii</i>) the environmental tolerances of fern life stages, and (<i>iv</i>) the relevance of, and constraints on, different dispersal vectors in the context of increasingly hazardous landscape matrices. I conclude that whilst wind is an important dispersal vector in non-hazardous landscapes, directed dispersal by an animal vector to isolated safe sites in a hazardous landscape matrix may be key for fern metapopulations and communities.</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":"100 5","pages":"2116-2130"},"PeriodicalIF":11.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/brv.70038","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144172243","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":"A functional morphological classification for North American freshwater mussels: associations between morphology and environmental parameters across spatial scales","authors":"Irene Sánchez González,&nbsp;Garrett W. Hopper,&nbsp;Jamie R. Bucholz,&nbsp;Jeffrey D. Lozier,&nbsp;Carla L. Atkinson","doi":"10.1111/brv.70040","DOIUrl":"10.1111/brv.70040","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Trait-based approaches have emerged as a general framework that translates species-specific knowledge to understand the processes driving patterns of diversity and distributions. Morphological traits are relatively easy to measure and can provide information on organism–environment interactions and community structure due to their close linkage to ecological function and habitat partitioning. Freshwater mussels (Family: Unionidae) are a diverse (~360 North American species) and endangered group of organisms. Mussels display great interspecific morphological variation potentially yielding broad ecological implications. We aimed to modify quantitively an existing shell morphological classification system by combining size, shape, and sculpturing data using a robust data set of 1362 individuals representing 64 species spanning a broad cross section of the diverse North American freshwater mussel fauna. Using multivariate techniques, we classified species into morphological classes based on trait similarities hypothesized to explain species distributions and habitat associations. We then tested how well the classification system predicted trait–environment relationships using quantitative mussel survey data with paired environmental data collected at three spatial scales [river (km), reach (40–150 m), patch (0.25 m²)]. Mussel species clustered into six different morphological classes based on sculpturing, shape, and body size traits. We found associations between morphological classes and environmental parameters at each spatial scale. The modified classification explained more variation in community distribution as predicted by abiotic variables than previous frameworks. Our study underscores the value of morphological traits in predicting species distributions and understanding mechanisms of community assembly and we provide a foundation for fellow researchers to expand our morphological classification. This knowledge has significant implications for mussel conservation and management, as it helps identify suitable habitats that can guide reintroduction strategies through incorporating multiple spatial scales, a broad representation of species and geographical distribution and a wide suite of morphological traits.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":"100 5","pages":"2150-2166"},"PeriodicalIF":11.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144172241","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 biogeographic and genomic signatures of dynamic river networks for terrestrial species in Amazonia.","authors":"Lukas J Musher","doi":"10.1111/brv.70042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70042","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Amazonia contains Earth's largest freshwater basin, largest contiguous stretch of tropical forest, and most species-rich terrestrial biota on Earth. Rivers are key geographic features that drive diversification of the Amazonian biota, but they are also dynamic, which challenges their role as long-term barriers to dispersal and gene flow. The impacts of such river dynamics on organismal evolution have only recently been explored in detail. Here I examine biodiversity patterns and processes in Amazonia to elucidate how taxa diversify in the context of river network dynamics. I borrow the River Capture Hypothesis from ichthyology, and draw on evidence from speciation genomics, hybrid zones, and community assembly to demonstrate the effects of river network evolution on biodiversification. The idea is simple: populations of organisms whose dispersal is restricted by rivers become semi-isolated by rivers. Drift and selection against introgression drive divergence, but as rivers move, previously isolated populations come into secondary contact, facilitating lineage fusions or the migration of hybrid zones to other rivers. The basin's unique macroecological patterns and rich biota thus may have resulted from repeated divergences, lineage fusions, and range expansions around a network of non-stationary extrinsic barriers with variable results depending on the degree of intrinsic reproductive isolation that accumulates during this process. The evolutionary consequences of dynamic landscapes extend beyond Amazonia as \"fission-fusion-fission\" cycles modulate the diversification and spatial patterning of life on Earth in general.</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144148891","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":"Synergy, complexity, and the dirty, dirty cheats of the world","authors":"Jennifer A. H. Koop,&nbsp;Neil W. Blackstone","doi":"10.1111/brv.70041","DOIUrl":"10.1111/brv.70041","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Studies of symbiosis employ the term “parasitism” to connote different sorts of relationships. Within the context of mutualistic symbioses, parasites are otherwise cooperative individuals or strains that appropriate a disproportionate amount of the synergistic products. In the context of antagonistic symbioses, there is no pretence of cooperation, and instead parasites are defined as individuals or strains that derive fitness benefits at a fitness cost to their hosts. In both cases, parasitism is selected for at the lower level (that of the individual symbiont) but selected against at the higher level (the group of symbionts in a single host). Despite these similarities, these different sorts of parasitism likely evolve by different pathways. Once a host–symbiont relationship initiates, if functional synergy is lacking, the relationship will remain exploitative, although parasites may differ in their detrimental effects on the host and the higher-level unit. If functional synergy is present, however, cooperation may develop with benefits for both host and symbionts (i.e. mutualism). Nevertheless, parasites may still evolve from within these incipient relationships when individuals or strains of symbionts act parasitically by defecting from the common good to further their selfish replication. Levels-of-selection dynamics thus underlie both forms of parasitism, but only in the case of latent functional synergy can true symbiotic complexity at the higher level emerge.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":"100 5","pages":"2167-2177"},"PeriodicalIF":11.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144141055","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}