PLOS Biology (@plosbiology)

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· 28d

Powered flight has fundamentally shaped diverse aspects of #birds. This study reveals a robust connection between #flight, #metabolism & #EvolutionaryRates, suggesting that this influence extends to the tempo of #genome #evolution @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/454ay8c

Left: Overview of flight characters and genomic evolutionary rates for 228 species sampled from 19 orders and 182 families of birds (note that only species with available data are shown). Colored bars at tip show (from inner to outer circles) flight style, Aerial Lifestyle Index (ALI), migration status, Hand-Wing Index (HWI), DNA deletion rate (per site per million years, or Mya), substitution rate (percent per Mya), and microsatellite divergence rate (Msat. Div. Rate.; repeat units per Mya). ALI describes the extent to which species rely on flight during foraging and daily activities from flightless species (0) to largely aerial species (3). Migration Status varies from sedentary species (1) to long-distance migrants (3). Species with missing data are excluded. Named orders contain >7 species. Right: The image captures the striking majesty of a soaring bird, the Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela) in flight. Soaring flight represents one of nature's most stunningly efficient aerodynamic achievements; by elegantly relying on thermal updrafts, these birds can traverse vast distances with almost no wing-flapping. Correspondingly, this minimal-effort flight style aligns with exceptionally low metabolic expenditure and, as revealed by this study, some of the slowest genomic evolutionary rates in birds. Image Credit: Gang Song.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· 28d

Creating lifelike #monkey avatars is challenging. This study presents MacAction, which animates a realistic macaque body #avatar from multi-camera markerless tracking data, revealing an #UncannyValley effect in macaque body perception @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4yjivUB

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· 28d

Creating lifelike #monkey avatars is challenging. This study presents MacAction, which animates a realistic macaque body #avatar from multi-camera markerless tracking data, revealing an #UncannyValley effect in macaque body perception @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4yjivUB

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· 28d

The TF Meis1 is critical for regulation of #cerebellar #GranuleCell progenitor function. This study reveals spatially distinct isoforms of Meis1 that differentially regulate the stability of pro-neural protein ATOH1 to fine-tune granule #neuron differentiation @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4vtPCCq

An original hand-drawn conceptual illustration depicting the emergence of the mouse cerebellum from diverse transcript isoforms and transcriptional programs. The image symbolizes how transcript diversity during neural development can give rise to cerebellar structure and cellular organization. Image credit: Ikuko Hasegawa.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· 28d

Take a close look at the wings, thoracic flight apparatus, and muscular flight motor system of the #fly. A new study shows how wing shape/motion and #aerodynamics have evolved across the Dipteran lineage. Images by Carlos Faulquier. 🧪 #AcademicSky plos.io/4b4LMbJ

A detailed view of wing morphology and membrane structure of a fly. All images were produced as part of this study at Wageningen University. The images were created by Carlos Faulquier, who is credited as the creator and has granted permission for their publication. The images are owned by Wageningen University and can be published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC‑BY) license. No generative AI tools were used in their creation.

A lateral view showing the connection between the wing and the thoracic flight apparatus of a fly. All images were produced as part of this study at Wageningen University. The images were created by Carlos Faulquier, who is credited as the creator and has granted permission for their publication. The images are owned by Wageningen University and can be published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC‑BY) license. No generative AI tools were used in their creation.

A detailed view of the thoracic muscular flight motor system of a fly. All images were produced as part of this study at Wageningen University. The images were created by Carlos Faulquier, who is credited as the creator and has granted permission for their publication. The images are owned by Wageningen University and can be published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC‑BY) license. No generative AI tools were used in their creation.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 11

Immoral behavior can be contagious. This #fMRI study by Benistant, Dreher &co shows that dishonest contexts lead to learned valuation biases and increased cheating, engaging the lPFC; while the pSTS encodes others’ cheating behavior. 🧪 #AcademicSky #morality plos.io/44jIaPc

A painting by Georges de La Tour, "The Dice Players", described by the authors as a seventeenth-century scene of chance and suspected deception. People stand around a table playing a dice game, while the obscured lighting source casts stark shadows.

The painting is from c. 1650–1651. Preston Park Museum & Grounds / Wikimedia Commons.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 11

#Neuroeconomics has long focused on reward values, ignoring their identity. @joeycharbonneau.bsky.social & @erinlrich.bsky.social explore a new @PLOSBiology.org fMRI study showing how identity-specific expectations steer choice selection. 🧪 Paper: plos.io/3R9rIxZ Primer: bit.ly/4vWIn6W

A cartoon schematic for the neural circuitry linking identity-specific expectations to action. When a reward-predictive cue is encountered (here, a billboard), the lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC; red) generates an expectation about the specific identity of the anticipated reward. The strength of this identity-specific expectation predicts which reward a person will subsequently choose to pursue when two possible rewards have equal value. The nucleus accumbens (NAc; green) appears to act as a motivational amplifier, controlling how strongly the lOFC identity signal drives action selection in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC; blue), which encodes the action required to obtain the anticipated reward. When NAc activity is high, lOFC identity expectations are strongly coupled to dACC action representations, but when it is low, this coupling is absent.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 10

How do the reward expectations influence choice? This #fMRI study by @phillip-witkowski.bsky.social &co links reward identity to goal-directed decision processes through coordination of the lOFC, NAc, and dACC brain regions. 🧪 #AcademicSky #neuroeconomics plos.io/3R9rIxZ

Cartoon illustrations related to the brain's processing of expectation information and action information. In the brain, the nucleus accumbens (NAc) relates reward expectations in lateral orbitofrontal cortes (lOFC) to action representations in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC).
Left: Schematic of the trial-by-trial information measurement of identity-specific reward expectations (top) and action (bottom). In each trial, we computed the relative distance of neural activity patterns to each of two “expectation” templates. This graphic was created using DALL·E assistance.
Right: Schematic showing the results of the information connectivity analysis conducted on the information metrics computed in A. We used a trial-by-trial regression framework to test whether the relationship between lOFC expectation strength and dACC action representations depended on NAc activity, effectively testing NAc’s moderating influence on information transfer between lOFC reward expectation and dACC action representations.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 10

How do aerodynamic constraints and evolutionary pressures shape the diversity of flight in true flies? By integrating wing shape, wing motion and #aerodynamics, this study uncovers similarities as well as striking divergences in flight performance. 🧪 #AcademicSky #evolution plos.io/4b4LMbJ

A graph of wing shape variation across Diptera, quantified using a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The two first principal components (PC1 and PC2), together with the associated shape changes and percentage of the variation explained by the principal components. Shown wing shapes represent the extreme values associated with each PC axis. Each data point shows a species-average wing shape. Species for which flight was quantified are highlighted with black circles.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 9

The sublaterodorsal tegmental nucleus in the brainstem is a center for #sleep control. This study shows that GABAergic neurons in this region suppress wakefulness, and that perturbing their activity level can regulate sleep attacks in a mouse #narcolepsy model. 🧪 #AcademicSky plos.io/4pchrxE

An illustration of a proposed mechanism by which GABAergic neurons in the sublaterodorsal tegmental nucleus (SLDGABA neurons) suppress wakefulness in healthy and narcoleptic animals. This schematic illustrates how the balance of wake-promoting signals from the lateral hypothalamus (LH) orexin (LHOX) neurons and wake-suppressive signals from the SLDGABA neurons may determine the changes in arousal states. In healthy mice (orexin+/+), the wake-promoting signal mediated by the LHOX neurons predominates over the wake-suppressive signal mediated by the SLDGABA neurons, generating a stable wakefulness. Conversely, in narcoleptic mice (orexin−/−), orexin-mediated wake-promoting signals are absent, allowing the SLDGABA neurons to produce a disproportionately strong suppression of wakefulness, resulting in wake instability seen as sleep attacks.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 8

Separating the neural correlates of #consciousness from those related to unconscious processing is challenging. This #EEG study by @maelanmenetrey.bsky.social &co suggests two-stages of visual processing as individual stimuli are integrated into a conscious percept. 🧪 #AcademicSky plos.io/4wwzxNb

Three graphs computed from EEG signals, showing that visual stimulus features that were not perceived consciously could still be decoded from the brain.

Technical details: Diagonal elements of the temporal generalization matrices, representing decoding results when training and testing at the same time point (group average AUC and SEM). Significant time windows are highlighted by the horizontal lines at the bottom. Temporal delays in the decoding results, relative to the actual onset of the vernier in the stream, are indicated by the dashed rectangles.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 8

Glucocorticoid signaling is thought to be important for #circadian rhythms only during development. This study shows that the adult SCN, a key pacemaker for the brain's clock, remains sensitive to these hormones, but through #astrocytes rather than neurons 🧪 #AcademicSky plos.io/4eRziqc

Confocal microscopy images of astrocytes from the mouse suprachiasmatic nuclei expressing glucocorticoid receptor with high magnification. The images have been labeled via immunohistochemistry staining. Glucocorticoid receptor is labeled in magenta and astrocytes are labeled in white.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 8

#Mosquito gene drives for #malaria control can be undermined by rare, hard to detect genetic resistance alleles. This study by @ioannamor.bsky.social @drew-hammond.bsky.social &co reveals how #CRISPR resistance emerges and how to overcome it, advancing vector control 🧪 #AcademicSky plos.io/3R0ggEQ

A photograph of an intersex An. gambiae mosquito bearing a Cas9-induced mutation collected in an Eppendorf tube for further analysis. Image credit to Ioanna Morianou.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 8

Register your place for #EMBLTranscript: plos.io/3SK5DXm The EMBL ‘Transcription and chromatin’ conference brings together leading experts to discuss the latest breakthroughs in transcriptional regulation through invited and abstract-selected talks. @events.embl.org

A promotional image for the 17th EMBL Conference on "Transcription and Chromatin" scheduled for 25-28 August 2026. The event is taking place at EMBL Heidelberg and virtually. The background features abstract scientific imagery with DNA strands and molecules on a green patterned backdrop.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 8

#Mosquito gene drives for #malaria control can be undermined by rare, hard to detect genetic resistance alleles. This study by @ioannamor.bsky.social @drew-hammond.bsky.social &co reveals how #CRISPR resistance emerges and how to overcome it, advancing vector control 🧪 #AcademicSky plos.io/3R0ggEQ

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 7

How do test expectancy and #misinformation shape the neural patterns related to #memory? This study shows that these manipulations of memory affected activity in different brain regions and networks, highlighting their distinct roles in memory encoding and recall. 🧪 #AcademicSky bit.ly/4eWNNcl

Shared neural representations for shared false memories. A series of brain schematics have been colored to show regions that were associated with encoding of an original event, misinformation, or shared false memories during the experiment. Scene-specific representations were found in multiple brain regions during each of the three stages for participants with shared false memories after viewing the same version (color-coded). During the encoding of misinformation, detail-specific representations were observed in the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (RDMPFC) and the right supramarginal gyrus (RSMG) (outlined ROIs). This suggests that when individuals encode misinformation, these brain regions exhibit shared representations across individuals, resulting in the formation of shared false memories. However, no cortical regions exhibit detail-specific representations during the encoding and final recall of original events.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 7

How do #bacteria evolve resistance to antibiotics ? This Essay by @craigmaclean.bskyb.social &co argues that the evolution of #AntibioticResistance is catalyzed by ‘resistance potentiators’ that accelerate evolution in a trait-specific manner. 🧪 #AcademicSky @biology.ox.ac.uk plos.io/4flYKnF

Evolutionary trajectories to resistance. Three model graphs relate to hypothetical evolutionary trajectories followed by a sensitive strain (star) under antibiotic pressure. Each arrow shows a hypothetical beneficial mutation and the shaded regions show phenotypes with progressively higher fitness. In panel A, the potentiators in the sensitive strain are intact. Panels B and C show hypothetical evolutionary trajectories when adjuvants block potentiators that accelerate the acquisition of resistance (B) or that amplify antibiotic resistance phenotypes (C). Figure created in BioRender. https://BioRender.com/9ow1603

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 7

How do test expectancy and #misinformation shape the neural patterns related to #memory? This study shows that these manipulations of memory affected activity in different brain regions and networks, highlighting their distinct roles in memory encoding and recall. 🧪 #AcademicSky bit.ly/4eWNNcl

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 7

How do #bacteria evolve resistance to antibiotics ? This Essay by @craigmaclean.bskyb.social &co argues that the evolution of #AntibioticResistance is catalyzed by ‘resistance potentiators’ that accelerate evolution in a trait-specific manner. 🧪 #AcademicSky @biology.ox.ac.uk plos.io/4flYKnF

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 6

How do neural circuits allow for #sensory processing to change with context? This study by @nuttidanuttida.bsky.social &co reveals how inhibitory microcircuits support flexible, context-specific integration, supporting adaptive decision-making 🧪 #AcademicSky #neuroscience plos.io/4vL2Qf9

The recurrent neural networks (RNNs) generate an output of +1 or −1 for matched and mismatched trials, respectively (pro-DMS; and vice versa for anti-DMS). The schematic of the RNN model is shown on the top. Modeling results show that inhibitory units robustly maintain top-down signals and establish functional connectivity hubs.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 6

Immune cells exist as continuous clouds, not discrete categories. In this Perspective, @tal-shay.bsky.social &co reframe immune identity through systems biology, and propose that immunotherapies should aim at dynamics of the cell cloud. 🧪 #AcademicSky #immunology plos.io/4oWuoLG

The cell cloud model. (a) Historically, discrete cell types were defined by histology or standard flow cytometry. (b) “Cell clouds” represent cells as the probability distribution of transcriptional states they occupy. Cell clouds serve as the empirical manifestation of attractor basins. Canalization produces tighter clouds, and cellular plasticity produces broader clouds. The panels in this Figure were generated with the assistance of Google Gemini.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 3

Immune cells exist as continuous clouds, not discrete categories. In this Perspective, @tal-shay.bsky.social &co reframe immune identity through systems biology, and propose that immunotherapies should aim at dynamics of the cell cloud. 🧪 #AcademicSky #immunology plos.io/4oWuoLG

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jul 2

#AI -driven bioinformatic tools hold promise for broadening discovery, yet major inequities persist. This Perspective, growing from the #AlphaFold Education Summit, argues that equitable tool adoption will require sustained global investment, not just access 🧪#AcademicSky bit.ly/4xVH9dL

Text box laying out the priorities for equitable adoption of advanced bioinformatics tools.

1. Enable shared infrastructure and low-barrier computational access.
For example: foster collaborations with cloud computing providers, form partnerships with high-performance computing centers or well-resourced institutions, and develop training materials tailored for offline use and low-bandwidth environments.

2. Invest in scalable Train-the-Trainer and mentorship models.
For example: create training resources suitable for various delivery methods, such as in-person, online, and hybrid formats, and make them openly available with guidance on how to use them.

3. Prioritize language accessibility and contextual relevance.
For example: translate training materials into the local language and provide use cases relevant to areas of direct interest to the trainees.

4. Integrate bioinformatics training into institutional curricula and funding structures.
For example: incorporate training on bioinformatics tools into undergraduate and taught master’s curricula; provide early-career researchers with access to short courses.

5. Foster global, interdisciplinary communities of practice.
For example: organize regional hubs or collaborative clusters to address geopolitical and logistical challenges and foster collaboration both inter-country and among neighboring countries.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jun 29

#CognitiveControl depends on interactions among large-scale #brain networks. @daspainbrain.bsky.social @brianmathur.bsky.social &co show that claustrum activity increases in memory tasks & has an excitatory influence on regions in multiple task-associated networks @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4aV5V3C

Claustrum co-activates with internally driven autobiographical memory networks. Top: BOLD signal increases (warm) and decreases (cool) during autobiographical memory (n = 35) Middle: BOLD signal increases from Top overlaid on salience, fronto-parietal, and default mode networks. Note task-related default mode network activity (e.g., PCC). Bottom: BOLD signal decreases from Top overlaid on fronto-parietal and dorsal attention networks. Displayed networks derived from AOMIC data due to absence of resting-state scans in the autobiographical memory dataset.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jun 29

#Recombination suppression leads to genomic erosion via accumulation of deleterious #mutations. This Primer explores a @plosbiology.org study that reveals an massive increase in aberrant #splicing in non-recombining genomic regions in green #algae 🧪 Paper: plos.io/44vbDFI Primer: plos.io/4f6pIQ2

Splicing deficiency in non-recombining mating-type regions of green algae. In green algae from the Mamiellales order, the U and V sex chromosomes contain large non-recombining DNA segments, called mating-type (MT) regions. These regions contain sex-determining genes as well as numerous other genes. They share many characteristics with non-recombining sex chromosomes, such as the presence of genomic rearrangements, increased repetitive sequence content, and lower gene density. In their new article, Condon and colleagues reveal a previously unexplored feature of MT regions: a high frequency of aberrant splice variants. Genes localized in MT regions produce numerous transcripts that contain retained introns. These transcripts are likely non-functional. Condon and colleagues observed that the increase of aberrant splice variants is associated with the presence of degenerate splicing regulatory motifs (depicted by the * symbol). Moreover, MT regions appear to have low DNA methylation levels and more open chromatin, which can likewise interfere with splicing regulation. The species silhouette depicts Ostreococcus tauri and was downloaded from PhyloPic

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jun 29

#CognitiveControl depends on interactions among large-scale #brain networks. @daspainbrain.bsky.social @brianmathur.bsky.social &co show that claustrum activity increases in memory tasks & has an excitatory influence on regions in multiple task-associated networks @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4aV5V3C

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jun 29

#RetinoicAcid (RA) regulates #hematopoietic homeostasis during development, but how? This study defines a Angptl5-Integrin α6lβ5-ERK axis that regulates RA signaling and restrains #myeloid & #erythroid progenitor expansion during zebrafish embryogenesis @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4v2q3bk

Angptl5 deficiency impairs primitive hematopoiesis. Projection of images from confocal stacks to show gata1a and myod1 expression in flat-mounted embryos in WT (top) and angptl5Δ10/Δ10 (bottom) embryos as assessed using HCR. Statistics are shown on the right. n(WT) = 14, n(angptl5Δ10/Δ10) = 16.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jun 29

Rapid info processing in vertebrates depends on #myelin, but how are CNS axons selected for #myelination? This study shows that axonal target selection by #oligodendrocytes depends on a redundant set of #AdhesionMolecules; simultaneous loss abolishes myelination @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4vyW63S

Combined loss of Cadm4, Cntn1b, and Mag leads to severe hypomyelination in the zebrafish spinal cord. Top: Schematic showing the localization of axo-glial internodal and paranodal adhesion complexes. Bottom: Confocal image shows a myelinating oligodendrocyte expressing the glial Cadm4 fusion protein olig1:cadm4-EGFP. Cadm4-EGFP (cyan) expression shows a spiraling pattern (arrowheads) across the Mauthner axon, which indicates its localization to the leading edge of the myelin sheath. Myelin sheaths are labeled using the reporter mbp:mCherry-CAAX (magenta). Scalebar is 10 µm.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jun 29

#Splicing dysfunction may represent a cryptic form of #genome erosion. This study shows that intron retention freq is much higher in #recombination -suppressed #MatingType regions in 4 #phytoplankton species, producing aberrant transcripts & functional decay @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/44vbDFI

Individual intron retention patterns across the genome of Mamiellales species. Left: per-intron retention frequency along autosomal regions (blue) and within the mating-type region (orange). Right: Retention frequency for each intron plotted along each chromosome with colors as in the left panel. Tick marks indicate the midpoints of chromosomes in each genome assembly, and contigs below 50 kbp were excluded.

PLOS Biology@plosbiology· Jun 29

#CognitiveControl depends on interactions among large-scale #brain networks. @daspainbrain.bsky.social @brianmathur.bsky.social &co show that claustrum activity increases in memory tasks & has an excitatory influence on regions in multiple task-associated networks @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4aV5V3C