Biology Letters最新文献

Adapting practices to accelerate the scientific description of invertebrate cryptic species. 适应实践以加速对无脊椎动物隐种的科学描述。

IF 3 2区生物学

Biology Letters Pub Date : 2025-10-01 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0385

Régis Vivien, Patrick Martin, Jan Pawlowski, Roman Alther

{"title":"Adapting practices to accelerate the scientific description of invertebrate cryptic species.","authors":"Régis Vivien, Patrick Martin, Jan Pawlowski, Roman Alther","doi":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0385","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0385","url":null,"abstract":"Formally describing cryptic species is essential for conservation and protection purposes and to enable their use in environmental monitoring. The current scientific practice in many invertebrate groups requires assigning the original morphospecies name to a particular genetic lineage before formally describing the other lineages of the morphospecies and providing an exhaustive morphological characterization for each described lineage of the morphospecies. These practices considerably delay-and may even hinder-the scientific description of cryptic species. Furthermore, it may lead to confusion if the same name refers to both the entire morphospecies and a particular lineage. Here, we propose some recommendations to accelerate the description of cryptic species and avoid taxonomic confusion. They include assigning a new name to each lineage of the morphospecies without (necessarily) first obtaining DNA from the morphospecies holotype or paratype(s) or designating a neotype, providing a basic morphological diagnosis in the cryptic species descriptions, and systematically following the morphospecies names by 'sensu lato' or 'species group' when referring to the entire morphospecies and by 'sensu stricto' when referring to the original lineage. Our recommendations could contribute to rapidly increasing the proportion of scientifically described cryptic species and enhancing the consideration of cryptic species in ecological assessments and conservation/protection programmes.","PeriodicalId":9005,"journal":{"name":"Biology Letters","volume":"21 10","pages":"20250385"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12483627/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145198060","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

The production of 'food boluses' by Antarctic krill and implications for organic matter transport. 南极磷虾生产的“食物丸”及其对有机物运输的影响。

IF 3 2区生物学

Biology Letters Pub Date : 2025-10-01 Epub Date: 2025-10-08 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0312

Anita Butterley, So Kawaguchi, Lennart Thomas Bach, Kerrie Swadling

{"title":"The production of 'food boluses' by Antarctic krill and implications for organic matter transport.","authors":"Anita Butterley, So Kawaguchi, Lennart Thomas Bach, Kerrie Swadling","doi":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0312","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0312","url":null,"abstract":"Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are a key species in the marine Antarctic ecosystem. Food boluses, a by-product of feeding where Antarctic krill form a compact food mass within their feeding basket, were formed and rejected under laboratory conditions. We explored the conditions leading to bolus formation by examining feeding behaviour of Antarctic krill in response to different phytoplankton types and concentrations. Two scenarios were observed that increased the likelihood of bolus formation: (i) when food concentrations exceed the krill's filtering capacity and (ii) when particles are caught in the feeding basket. We measured the frequency of rejection of boluses, along with their composition, carbon and nitrogen contents, and sinking rates. For cell concentrations approximately 108 cells l-1, the frequency of rejection ranged from 2.6 to 17.0 boluses per hour. The carbon and nitrogen contents averaged 24.1 µg C mm-3 and 2.3 µg N mm-3, and sinking rates averaged 367 m d-1. Our findings suggest this behaviour may also occur in situ and could contribute to organic carbon export, with bolus sinking rates comparable to or exceeding those of Antarctic krill faecal pellets. If confirmed in the field, this behaviour may also occur in other krill species with similar feeding behaviours.","PeriodicalId":9005,"journal":{"name":"Biology Letters","volume":"21 10","pages":"20250312"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145243731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

A reproducible model for magnetosensitivity: earthworms in transparent soil reduce their cumulative movement in an extremely weak magnetic field. 磁敏感性的可复制模型：透明土壤中的蚯蚓在极弱的磁场中减少了它们的累积运动。

IF 3 2区生物学

Biology Letters Pub Date : 2025-10-01 Epub Date: 2025-10-08 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0213

Michael Bar-Ziv, Dan Szklowin, Oren Pearlson, Yoni Vortman

引用次数: 0

Why did Bob stop losing weight? We need to talk about energy expenditure compensation. 鲍勃为什么不减肥了？我们需要谈谈能量消耗补偿。

IF 3 2区生物学

Biology Letters Pub Date : 2025-10-01 Epub Date: 2025-10-08 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0275

Lewis G Halsey

{"title":"Why did Bob stop losing weight? We need to talk about energy expenditure compensation.","authors":"Lewis G Halsey","doi":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0275","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0275","url":null,"abstract":"Repeatedly, intervention studies report that participants undertaking a new exercise regimen lose weight initially, but then their weight loss quickly plateaus. A careful look at the literature shows that plateauing happens even when participants' food intake does not increase and their exercise intensity is maintained. So how can we explain this, given that if the body is consistently in energy debt, surely weight loss must result. I argue that energy expenditure compensation-reductions in energy expended on some biological processes to counteract increases in energy expended on activity levels-is an under-recognized compensatory response to heightened exercise. We observe energy expenditure compensation 'in the field', for example, people in pre-industrialized nations expend a lot of energy each day on physical activity but nonetheless have a daily energy expenditure commensurate with that of relatively sedentary Westerners. But most researchers and practitioners have not connected the aforementioned laboratory and field observations-that is, if our activity levels are consistently heightened for long enough, our bodies adaptively compensate in terms of overall energy expenditure, such that if we undertake an exercise regimen, in the long run we only lose a fraction of the weight we aspire to. We need to raise awareness about energy expenditure compensation, how it can limit weight loss and how in light of this knowledge we might better prescribe 'weight loss regimens' to encourage additional weight reduction in those who aspire to it.","PeriodicalId":9005,"journal":{"name":"Biology Letters","volume":"21 10","pages":"20250275"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145243684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Evidence of cellular adaptations in a fungal cultivar promoting resource exchange with leafcutter ant farmers. 真菌品种的细胞适应性促进与切叶蚁农民资源交换的证据。

IF 3 2区生物学

Biology Letters Pub Date : 2025-10-01 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0259

Ayoub Stelate, Jonathan Zvi Shik

{"title":"Evidence of cellular adaptations in a fungal cultivar promoting resource exchange with leafcutter ant farmers.","authors":"Ayoub Stelate, Jonathan Zvi Shik","doi":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0259","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0259","url":null,"abstract":"Leafcutter farming systems are ant-fungus mutualisms whose ecological success hinges on differentiation of fungal hyphae into swollen cells called gongylidia that ants consume. While gongylidium cells are unique signatures of coevolved crop domestication, their cell biology is poorly understood. Each gongylidium cell contains a large vacuole that is thought to protectively store plant degradation enzymes that ants ingest and vector unharmed in faecal droplets back to the fungus. We hypothesized that enzyme storage requires gongylidium vacuoles to have distinct levels of pH and reactive oxygen species (ROS) compared to the vacuoles of undifferentiated hyphae that likely degrade cellular waste. We used live-cell fluorescence microscopy of fungal isolates with targeted probes to first show that both cell types had vacuoles with lower pH than the surrounding cytosol. In contrast, while hyphal vacuoles stored ROS, gongylidium vacuoles excluded these potentially harmful molecules. These findings suggest derived cellular adaptations in a mutualistic fungus where gongylidia protect ant-vectored enzymes through specialized subcellular ROS compartmentalization.","PeriodicalId":9005,"journal":{"name":"Biology Letters","volume":"21 10","pages":"20250259"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12483630/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145198035","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Bidirectional optimization of firing rate in a mouse neuronal brain-machine interface. 小鼠神经元脑机接口放电速率的双向优化。

IF 3 2区生物学

Biology Letters Pub Date : 2025-09-01 Epub Date: 2025-09-03 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0176

Yixun Zhao, Pengying Lu, Xiao Wang, Ming Yin

{"title":"Bidirectional optimization of firing rate in a mouse neuronal brain-machine interface.","authors":"Yixun Zhao, Pengying Lu, Xiao Wang, Ming Yin","doi":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0176","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0176","url":null,"abstract":"Neuroplasticity enables the brain to adapt neural activity, but whether this can be harnessed for abstract optimization tasks like seeking curve extrema remains unclear. Here, we used a brain-machine interface in mice, pairing auditory feedback of neuronal firing rate with water rewards, to investigate whether motor cortex neurons can optimize activity along a unimodal curve ([Formula: see text]). The curve maps firing rate ([Formula: see text]) to sound frequency increase speed ([Formula: see text]), where the curve extremum accelerates reward acquisition. Over conditioning sessions, mice learned to modulate firing rates towards this peak, reducing reward time from 18.64 ± 7.30 s to 11.59 ± 4.38 s and increasing high-response events from 66 to 104 occurrences. Putative neurons increasingly prioritized high-response intervals, with positive proportion increments in upper intervals versus negative trends in lower ones. These findings demonstrate that cortical neurons can dynamically optimize activity along non-monotonic reward landscapes, revealing neuroplasticity as a substrate for adaptive self-optimization. This expands our understanding of how the brain learns abstract rules via feedback, with implications for neuroprosthetic design that leverage neural adaptability.","PeriodicalId":9005,"journal":{"name":"Biology Letters","volume":"21 9","pages":"20250176"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12405940/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144941604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Chemosensory adaptations in Caenorhabditis males during the establishment of androdioecy. 雄性雄性建立期间梭梭雄性的化学感觉适应。

IF 3 2区生物学

Biology Letters Pub Date : 2025-09-01 Epub Date: 2025-09-17 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0239

Harini Kannan, King L Chow

{"title":"Chemosensory adaptations in Caenorhabditis males during the establishment of androdioecy.","authors":"Harini Kannan, King L Chow","doi":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0239","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0239","url":null,"abstract":"Caenorhabditis elegans has evolved from its dioecious ancestors to adopt an androdioecious reproductive strategy. In this process, ancestral female C. elegans acquired genetic modifications that enabled self-sperm generation, self-sperm activation and a reduced reliance on sexual reproduction. However, how males have adapted during this transition from dioecy to androdioecy is less explored. Using Caenorhabditis species, we demonstrated that androdioecious hermaphrodites exhibit attenuated sex pheromone potency, while androdioecious males show heightened olfactory habituation and diminished mate exploration capabilities. The behaviour of androdioecious males can be reverted to resemble that of dioecious males by replacing the SRD-1 receptor with its dioecious orthologues. This intrinsic characteristic is contingent upon the C-terminal cytoplasmic domain of the receptor. We propose a theoretical framework where C. elegans males have accumulated genetic variations in their pheromone receptor, leading to altered chemosensory perception of the opposite sex, which confers a selective advantage favouring hermaphroditism. Our study provides insights into overlooked male traits, shaped by changes in chemosensory signalling. The findings underscore the capacity of chemosensory variations to influence how organisms perceive critical ecological factors, eventually facilitating the emergence and stabilization of hermaphroditism.","PeriodicalId":9005,"journal":{"name":"Biology Letters","volume":"21 9","pages":"20250239"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12440622/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145074235","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

The shoulder girdle of early chondrichthyans grew by skeletal remodelling. 早期软骨鱼的肩带是通过骨骼重塑而生长的。

IF 3 2区生物学

Biology Letters Pub Date : 2025-09-01 Epub Date: 2025-09-24 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0411

Plamen S Andreev, Min Zhu, Lars Brakenhoff, Qiang Li, Wenjin Zhao, Lijian Peng, Federica Marone, Richard P Dearden, Martin Rücklin

{"title":"The shoulder girdle of early chondrichthyans grew by skeletal remodelling.","authors":"Plamen S Andreev, Min Zhu, Lars Brakenhoff, Qiang Li, Wenjin Zhao, Lijian Peng, Federica Marone, Richard P Dearden, Martin Rücklin","doi":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0411","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0411","url":null,"abstract":"A distinct shoulder region, defined by endoskeletal and dermal girdles and associated pectoral musculature, is a major evolutionary adaptation of jawed vertebrates. In teleost model species, the large (macromeric) pectoral dermal bones can be derived from multiple embryonic tissues, identifying the shoulder of osteichthyans as a developmentally complex area at the head-trunk boundary. The absence of bone in living chondrichthyans makes Palaeozoic stem groups capable of dermal ossification key to understanding the underpinnings of skeletal growth in the shoulder of crown gnathostomes (osteichthyans and chondrichthyans). Here, using synchrotron X-ray tomography we demonstrate that individual pectoral plates in the oldest unequivocal jawed vertebrate, the Silurian (c. 439 Mya) chondrichthyan Fanjingshania renovata, develop from five separate growth centres. These centres correspond to pectoral bony spines that fuse neighbouring dermal scales into a pinnal plate and their expansion is accompanied by cyclical resorption and remodelling of bone and dentine. Our phylogenetic analyses support an interpretation of these processes as crown and stem gnathostome characters that co-occur only in the shoulder girdle of stem chondrichthyans. The systematic hard tissue remodelling in Fanjingshania reveals an unexpected growth dynamic within chondrichthyans that relates to the formation of a macromeric skeleton through integration of modular elements.","PeriodicalId":9005,"journal":{"name":"Biology Letters","volume":"21 9","pages":"20250411"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12459293/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145129834","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Grasping performance in primates does not align with preferred substrate use. 灵长类动物的抓握表现与首选的底物使用不一致。

IF 3 2区生物学

Biology Letters Pub Date : 2025-09-01 Epub Date: 2025-09-17 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0366

Michael Constantine Granatosky, Melody Young, Gabrielle A Hirschkorn, Julie C McKinney, Kay Welser, Edwin Dickinson

{"title":"Grasping performance in primates does not align with preferred substrate use.","authors":"Michael Constantine Granatosky, Melody Young, Gabrielle A Hirschkorn, Julie C McKinney, Kay Welser, Edwin Dickinson","doi":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0366","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0366","url":null,"abstract":"Arboreal locomotion presents considerable mechanical challenges, requiring animals to maintain stability on narrow supports. While some species rely on gait adjustments, others use grasping autopodia to counteract toppling torques. We investigated how substrate size affects grasping force in strepsirrhine primates-a lineage regarded as a model for early primates and known for fine-branch arboreal locomotion. Using a custom apparatus, we measured in vivo grip strength across three substrate diameters (small, medium and large) in 11 species. In both hands and feet, grip strength peaked on medium-sized substrates-those allowing optimal digital wrapping-and declined on small and large diameters. These patterns remained significant after controlling for phylogeny, body size, sex and age. Despite weaker performance on small substrates, strepsirrhines commonly navigate thin terminal branches in nature, suggesting an ecological mismatch between peak grasping performance and substrate use. This implies that powerful digital grasping may be less critical for arboreal stability than often assumed. Instead, whole-body mechanics and precise limb placement likely compensate when grip is reduced. Rather than maximizing force, the primate hand appears adapted for versatility-supporting the broader principle that evolutionary success often reflects functional adequacy and adaptability over specialization for force production.","PeriodicalId":9005,"journal":{"name":"Biology Letters","volume":"21 9","pages":"20250366"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12441750/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145074261","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Changing priorities about protective shelters: a review of a key method to investigate possible pain in crustaceans. 改变保护庇护所的优先事项：一种调查甲壳类动物可能疼痛的关键方法的综述。

IF 3 2区生物学

Biology Letters Pub Date : 2025-09-01 Epub Date: 2025-09-17 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0342

Robert William Elwood

{"title":"Changing priorities about protective shelters: a review of a key method to investigate possible pain in crustaceans.","authors":"Robert William Elwood","doi":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0342","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0342","url":null,"abstract":"Testing if non-human taxa experience pain is difficult because we need to exclude the possibility that responses are nociceptive reflexes. One approach is to identify an essential, high priority, resource and then ask if the animal will abandon and subsequently avoid that resource if it is paired with a noxious stimulus. This approach has been used with crustaceans that hide in dark shelters and electric shocks have been used as noxious stimuli. A range of species show escape responses and avoid shelters if the shock is presented within, and these responses increase with increasing voltage or repetition of shocks. Crustaceans also switch to using alternative shelters and appear to dramatically alter their behavioural priorities. Animals shocked outside of a shelter, however, subsequently increase their use of shelters and benefit from reduced predation. These changes in priorities cannot be due only to nociceptive reflexes because they persist long after the cessation of the stimulus. Increasing the apparent costs of leaving a shelter decreases the probability of leaving, indicating that, by taking into account costs, they are responding via behavioural decisions and not reflexes. This provides a method to determine how much the animal will pay to avoid the shocks and similar techniques should provide powerful ways to examine potential pain in different taxa.","PeriodicalId":9005,"journal":{"name":"Biology Letters","volume":"21 9","pages":"20250342"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12440613/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145074283","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0