PLoS Biology最新文献

{"title":"Reactivation of previous decisions repulsively biases sensory encoding but attractively biases decision-making.","authors":"Minghao Luo, Huihui Zhang, Fang Fang, Huan Luo","doi":"10.1371/journal.pbio.3003150","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003150","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Automatic shaping of perception by past experiences is common in many cognitive functions, reflecting the exploitation of temporal regularities in environments. A striking example is serial dependence, i.e., current perception is biased by previous trials. However, the neural implementation of its operational circle in human brains remains unclear. In two experiments with electroencephalography (EEG)/magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings and delayed-response tasks, we demonstrate a two-stage 'repulsive-then-attractive' past-present interaction mechanism underlying serial dependence. First, past-trial reports, instead of past stimuli, serve as a prior to be reactivated during both encoding and decision-making. Crucially, past reactivation interacts with current information processing in a two-stage manner: repelling and attracting the present during encoding and decision-making, and arising in the sensory cortex and prefrontal cortex, respectively. Finally, while the early stage occurs automatically, the late stage is modulated by task and predicts bias behavior. These findings might also illustrate general mechanisms of past-present influences in neural operations.</p>","PeriodicalId":49001,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Biology","volume":"23 4","pages":"e3003150"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12052181/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143994024","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":"Feedback from an avatar facilitates risk-taking by modulating the amygdala response to feedback uncertainty.","authors":"Toshiko Tanaka, Masahiko Haruno","doi":"10.1371/journal.pbio.3003122","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003122","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>With the rise of cyberspace technologies, communication through avatars has become increasingly common. However, the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying behavioral changes induced by avatar interactions remain poorly understood, particularly when avatars serve as communication partners. To address this gap and uncover the biological mechanisms involved, we conducted behavioral (n = 28) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (n = 51) experiments using a simple gambling task. Participants received dynamic facial-expression feedback from either a human observer presented as an avatar or a real human face based on the outcome (win or no-win) of each gambling trial. Our results showed that expecting avatar feedback significantly increased gambling behavior in both behavioral and fMRI settings. Computational modeling revealed that differences in risk-taking behavior between the avatar and human conditions were associated with differential valuation of feedback uncertainty. Furthermore, we found that the amygdala encodes the differential valuation of feedback uncertainty, where a negative response to feedback uncertainty played a key role in choosing a gambling option. Additionally, we found that individual differences in behavioral and neural valuation of feedback uncertainty correlate with the questionnaire score that measures emotional consideration of another person's internal states. These results demonstrate the facilitation of risk-taking behavior by avatar feedback and its underlying cognitive and neural mechanisms, thus providing deeper biological insights into risk-taking behavior and implications for human social interactions using avatars.</p>","PeriodicalId":49001,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Biology","volume":"23 4","pages":"e3003122"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12015647/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144042520","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":"Testing the reproducibility of ecological studies on insect behavior in a multi-laboratory setting identifies opportunities for improving experimental rigor.","authors":"Carolin Mundinger, Nora K E Schulz, Pragya Singh, Steven Janz, Maximilian Schurig, Jacob Seidemann, Joachim Kurtz, Caroline Müller, Holger Schielzeth, Vanessa T von Kortzfleisch, S Helene Richter","doi":"10.1371/journal.pbio.3003019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003019","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The reproducibility of studies involving insect species is an underexplored area in the broader discussion about poor reproducibility in science. Our study addresses this gap by conducting a systematic multi-laboratory investigation into the reproducibility of ecological studies on insect behavior. We implemented a 3 × 3 experimental design, incorporating three study sites, and three independent experiments on three insect species from different orders: the turnip sawfly (Athalia rosae, Hymenoptera), the meadow grasshopper (Pseudochorthippus parallelus, Orthoptera), and the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum, Coleoptera). Using random-effect meta-analysis, we compared the consistency and accuracy of treatment effects on insect behavioral traits across replicate experiments. We successfully reproduced the overall statistical treatment effect in 83% of the replicate experiments, but overall effect size replication was achieved in only 66% of the replicates. Thus, though demonstrating sufficient reproducibility in some measures, this study also provides the first experimental evidence for cases of poor reproducibility in insect experiments. Our findings further show that reasons causing poor reproducibility established in rodent research also hold for other study organisms and research questions. We believe that a rethinking of current best practices is required to face reproducibility issues in insect studies but also across disciplines. Specifically, we advocate for adopting open research practices and the implementation of methodological strategies that reduce bias and problems arising from over-standardization. With respect to the latter, the introduction of systematic variation through multi-laboratory or heterogenized designs may contribute to improved reproducibility in studies involving any living organisms.</p>","PeriodicalId":49001,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Biology","volume":"23 4","pages":"e3003019"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12013911/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143989126","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":"Werner syndrome exonuclease promotes gut regeneration and causes age-associated gut hyperplasia in Drosophila.","authors":"Kun Wu, Juanyu Zhou, Yiming Tang, Qiaoqiao Zhang, Lishou Xiong, Xiaorong Li, Zhangpeng Zhuo, Mei Luo, Yu Yuan, Xingzhu Liu, Zhendong Zhong, XiaoXin Guo, Zihua Yu, Xiao Sheng, Guanzheng Luo, Haiyang Chen","doi":"10.1371/journal.pbio.3003121","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003121","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Human Werner syndrome (adult progeria, a well-established model of human aging) is caused by mutations in the Werner syndrome (WRN) gene. However, the expression patterns and functions of WRN in natural aging remain poorly understood. Despite the link between WRN deficiencies and progeria, our analyses of human colon tissues, mouse crypts, and Drosophila midguts revealed that WRN expression does not decrease but rather increases in intestinal stem cells (ISCs) with aging. Mechanistically, we found that the Drosophila WRN homologue (WRNexo) binds to Heat shock 70-kDa protein cognate 3 (Hsc70-3/Bip) to regulate the unfolded protein response of the endoplasmic reticulum (UPRER). Activation of the WRNexo-mediated UPRER in ISCs is required for ISC proliferation during injury repair. However, persistent DNA damage during aging leads to chronic upregulation of WRNexo in ISCs, where excessive WRNexo-induced ER stress drives age-associated gut hyperplasia in Drosophila. This study reveals how elevated WRNexo contributes to stem cell aging, providing new insights into organ aging and the pathogenesis of age-related diseases, such as colon cancer.</p>","PeriodicalId":49001,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Biology","volume":"23 4","pages":"e3003121"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12013949/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144035399","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":"Brief early-life motor training induces behavioral changes and alters neuromuscular development in mice.","authors":"Camille Quilgars, Eric Boué-Grabot, Philippe de Deurwaerdère, Jean-René Cazalets, Florence E Perrin, Sandrine S Bertrand","doi":"10.1371/journal.pbio.3003153","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003153","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this study, we aimed to determine the impact of an increase in motor activity during the highly plastic period of development of the motor spinal cord and hindlimb muscles in newborn mice. A swim training regimen, consisting of two sessions per day for two days, was conducted in 1 and 2-day-old (P1, P2) pups. P3-trained pups showed a faster acquisition of a four-limb swimming pattern, accompanied by dysregulated gene expression in the lateral motor column, alterations in the intrinsic membrane properties of motoneurons (MNs) and synaptic plasticity, as well as increased axonal myelination in motor regions of the spinal cord. Network-level changes were also observed, as synaptic events in MNs and spinal noradrenaline and serotonin contents were modified by training. At the muscular level, slight changes in neuromuscular junction morphology and myosin subtype expression in hindlimb muscles were observed in trained animals. Furthermore, the temporal sequence of acquiring the adult-like swimming pattern and postural development in trained pups showed differences persisting until almost the second postnatal week. A very short motor training performed just after birth is thus able to induce functional adaptation in the developing neuromuscular system that could persist several days. This highlights the vulnerability of the neuromuscular apparatus during development and the need to evaluate carefully the impact of any given sensorimotor procedure when considering its application to improve motor development or in rehabilitation strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":49001,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Biology","volume":"23 4","pages":"e3003153"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12052215/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144053792","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":"Inhibitory circuit motifs in Drosophila larvae generate motor program diversity and variability.","authors":"Jacob Francis, Caius R Gibeily, William V Smith, Isabel S Petropoulos, Michael Anderson, William J Heitler, Astrid A Prinz, Stefan R Pulver","doi":"10.1371/journal.pbio.3003094","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pbio.3003094","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>How do neural networks generate and regulate diversity and variability in motor outputs with finite cellular components? Here we examine this problem by exploring the role that inhibitory neuron motifs play in generating mixtures of motor programs in the segmentally organised Drosophila larval locomotor system. We developed a computational model that is constrained by experimental calcium imaging data. The model comprises single-compartment cells with a single voltage-gated calcium current, which are interconnected by graded excitatory and inhibitory synapses. Local excitatory and inhibitory neurons form conditional oscillators in each hemisegment. Surrounding architecture reflects key aspects of inter- and intrasegmental connectivity motifs identified in the literature. The model generates metachronal waves of activity that recapitulate key features of fictive forwards and backwards locomotion, as well as bilaterally asymmetric activity in anterior regions that represents fictive head sweeps. The statistics of inputs to competing command-like motifs, coupled with inhibitory motifs that detect activity across multiple segments generate network states that promote diversity in motor outputs, while at the same time preventing maladaptive overlap in motor programs. Overall, the model generates testable predictions for connectomics and physiological studies while providing a platform for uncovering how inhibitory circuit motifs underpin generation of diversity and variability in motor systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":49001,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Biology","volume":"23 4","pages":"e3003094"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12088524/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144053799","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":"Polarized subcellular activation of Rho proteins by specific ROPGEFs drives pollen germination in Arabidopsis thaliana.","authors":"Alida Melissa Bouatta, Franziska Anzenberger, Lisa Riederauer, Andrea Lepper, Philipp Denninger","doi":"10.1371/journal.pbio.3003139","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003139","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>During plant fertilization, excess male gametes compete for a limited number of female gametes. The dormant male gametophyte, encapsulated in the pollen grain, consists of two sperm cells enclosed in a vegetative cell. After reaching the stigma of a compatible flower, quick and efficient germination of the vegetative cell to a tip-growing pollen tube is crucial to ensure fertilization success. Rho of Plants (ROP) signaling and their activating ROP Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors (ROPGEFs) are essential for initiating polar growth processes in multiple cell types. However, which ROPGEFs activate pollen germination is unknown. We investigated the role of ROPGEFs in initiating pollen germination and the required cell polarity establishment. Of the five pollen-expressed ROPGEFs, we found that GEF8, GEF9, and GEF12 are required for pollen germination and male fertilization success, as gef8;gef9;gef12 triple mutants showed almost complete loss of pollen germination in vitro and had a reduced allele transmission rate. Live-cell imaging and spatiotemporal analysis of subcellular protein distribution showed that GEF8, GEF9, and GEF11, but not GEF12, displayed transient polar protein accumulations at the future site of pollen germination minutes before pollen germination, demonstrating specific roles for GEF8 and GEF9 during the initiation of pollen germination. Furthermore, this novel GEF accumulation appears in a biphasic temporal manner and can shift its location laterally. We showed that the C-terminal domain of GEF8 and GEF9 confers their protein accumulation and demonstrated that GEFs locally activate ROPs and alter Ca2+ levels, which is required for pollen tube germination. We demonstrated that not all GEFs act redundantly during pollen germination, and we described for the first time a polar domain with spatiotemporal flexibility, which is crucial for the de novo establishment of a polar growth domain within a cell and, thus, for pollen function and fertilization success.</p>","PeriodicalId":49001,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Biology","volume":"23 4","pages":"e3003139"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12043234/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144027065","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":"Single-cell analysis of the early Drosophila salivary gland reveals that morphogenetic control involves both the induction and exclusion of gene expression programs.","authors":"Annabel May, Katja Röper","doi":"10.1371/journal.pbio.3003133","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003133","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>How tissue shape and therefore function is encoded by the genome remains in many cases unresolved. The tubes of the salivary glands in the Drosophila embryo start from simple epithelial placodes, specified through the homeotic factors Scr/Hth/Exd. Previous work indicated that early morphogenetic changes are prepatterned by transcriptional changes, but an exhaustive transcriptional blueprint driving physical changes was lacking. We performed single-cell-RNAseq-analysis of FACS-isolated early placodal cells, making up less than 0.4% of cells within the embryo. Differential expression analysis in comparison to epidermal cells analyzed in parallel generated a repertoire of genes highly upregulated within placodal cells prior to morphogenetic changes. Furthermore, clustering and pseudotime analysis of single-cell-sequencing data identified dynamic expression changes along the morphogenetic timeline. Our dataset provides a comprehensive resource for future studies of a simple but highly conserved morphogenetic process of tube morphogenesis. Unexpectedly, we identified a subset of genes that, although initially expressed in the very early placode, then became selectively excluded from the placode but not the surrounding epidermis, including hth, grainyhead and tollo/toll-8. We show that maintaining tollo expression severely compromised the tube morphogenesis. We propose tollo is switched off to not interfere with key Tolls/LRRs that are expressed and function in the tube morphogenesis.</p>","PeriodicalId":49001,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Biology","volume":"23 4","pages":"e3003133"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12043239/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144002720","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":"Vaccines work… and do not cause autism.","authors":"Nonia Pariente","doi":"10.1371/journal.pbio.3003143","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pbio.3003143","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Vaccines have saved millions of lives, yet their importance and safety is repeatedly in question. We cannot let disinformation campaigns get in the way of global public health-it is not time to defund, but rather invest in these life-saving tools.</p>","PeriodicalId":49001,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Biology","volume":"23 4","pages":"e3003143"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12007713/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144033877","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":"Membrane asymmetry facilitates murine norovirus entry and persistent enteric infection.","authors":"Brittany M Stewart, Linley R Pierce, Mikayla C Olson, Chengyuan Ji, Robert C Orchard","doi":"10.1371/journal.pbio.3003147","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003147","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Norovirus, the leading cause of gastroenteritis worldwide, is a non-enveloped virus whose tropism is determined in part by the expression patterns of entry receptors. However, the contribution of cellular lipids to viral entry is not well understood. Here, we determined that the asymmetrical distribution of lipids within membrane bilayers is required for murine norovirus (MNV) replication. Specifically, TMEM30a, an essential subunit of lipid flippases, is required for MNV replication in vitro. Disruption of TMEM30a in mouse intestinal epithelial cells prevents persistent, enteric infection by MNV in vivo. Mechanistically, TMEM30a facilitates MNV binding and entry. Surprisingly, exoplasmic phosphatidylserine (PS), a typical marker of dying cells, does not inhibit MNV infection. Rather, TMEM30a maintains a lipid-ordered state that impacts membrane fluidity that is necessary for the low affinity, high avidity binding of MNV to cells. Our data provides a new role for lipid asymmetry in promoting non-enveloped virus infection in vitro and norovirus persistence in vivo.</p>","PeriodicalId":49001,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Biology","volume":"23 4","pages":"e3003147"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12052208/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144058110","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}