Genetics

Independent Validation of Transgenerational Inheritance of Learned Pathogen Avoidance in Caenorhabditis elegans

1. Aalimah Akinosho
2. Joseph Alexander
3. Kyle Floyd
4. Andrés Vidal-Gadea

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study concerns a model for transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, the learned avoidance by C. elegans of the PA14 pathogenic strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A recent study questioned whether transgenerational inheritance in this paradigm lacks robustness. The authors of this study have worked independently of the group that reported the original phenomenon and also independently of the group that challenged the original report. With solid data, this study independently validates findings previously reported by the Murphy group, confirming that the paradigm is reproducible elsewhere. The present study is therefore of broad interest to anyone studying genetics, epigenetics, or learned behavior.

Reviewed by eLife

A whole-organism landscape of X-inactivation in humans

1. Bjorn Gylemo
2. Maike Bensberg
3. Colm E Nestor

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The study provides a valuable analysis of escape from X-inactivation based on three rare female GTEX-donors with non-mosaic X-inactivation. The methods and analyses are solid and broadly support the authors' claims. Their data are more comprehensive than those presented previously and add significant weight to evidence for which genes are inactivated or escape from X inactivation in humans.

Reviewed by eLife

BICC1 Interacts with PKD1 and PKD2 to Drive Cystogenesis in ADPKD

1. Uyen Tran
2. Andrew J Streets
3. Devon Smith
4. Eva Decker
5. Annemarie Kirschfink
6. Lahoucine Izem
7. Jessie M Hassey
8. Briana Rutland
9. Manoj K Valluru
10. Jan Hinrich Bräsen
11. Elisabeth Ott
12. Daniel Epting
13. Tobias Eisenberger
14. Albert CM Ong
15. Carsten Bergmann
16. Oliver Wessely

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presented valuable findings regarding the basic molecular pathways leading to the cystogenesis of Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease, suggesting BICC1 functions as both a minor causative gene for PKD and a modifier of PKD severity. Although some solid data were supplied to show the functional and structural interactions between BICC-1 and PKD2 and their relevance to the pathogenesis of ADPKD, the characterization of such interactions appear to be incomplete, which renders the specific relevance of these findings for disease etiology unclear.

Reviewed by eLife

Mapping of in vivo cleavage sites uncovers a major role for yeast RNase III in regulating protein-coding genes

1. Lee-Ann Notice-Sarpaning
2. Mathieu Catala
3. Sherif Abou Elela
4. Ambro van Hoof

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study expands the inventory of polyadenylated RNAs cleaved by the double-stranded RNA endonuclease Rnt1 in budding yeast, using solid methodology based on high-throughput sequencing. Previous studies had anecdotally discovered mRNA substrates, and this global characterization is comprehensive with multiple complementary controls. However, the study would be stronger with a deeper investigation into the biological function of Rnt1, as well as experiments directly probing the interaction between Rnt1 and its putative substrates.

Reviewed by eLife

Direct cell-to-cell transmission of retrotransposons

1. Maya Voichek
2. Andreas Bernhard
3. Maria Novatchkova
4. Dominik Handler
5. Paul Möseneder
6. Baptiste Rafanel
7. Peter Duchek
8. Kirsten-André Senti
9. Julius Brennecke

Reviewed by preLights

The robust, high-throughput, and temporally regulated roxCre and loxCre reporting systems for genetic modifications in vivo

1. Mengyang Shi
2. Jie Li
3. Xiuxiu Liu
4. Kuo Liu
5. Lingjuan He
6. Wenjuan Pu
7. Wendong Weng
8. Shaohua Zhang
9. Huan Zhao
10. Kathy O Lui
11. Bin Zhou

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents an important set of new tools to facilitate Cre or Dre-mediated recombination in mice. The characterization of these new tools was done using solid and validated methodology. The work convincingly demonstrates the efficient gene knockout capability of these models and will progress the field.

Reviewed by eLife

Inferring genotype-phenotype maps using attention models

1. Krishna Rijal
2. Caroline M. Holmes
3. Samantha Petti
4. Gautam Reddy
5. Michael M. Desai
6. Pankaj Mehta

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

EPHA4 signaling dysregulation links abnormal locomotion and the development of idiopathic scoliosis

1. Lianlei Wang
2. Xinyu Yang
3. Sen Zhao
4. Pengfei Zheng
5. Wen Wen
6. Kexin Xu
7. Xi Cheng
8. Qing Li
9. Anas M Khanshour
10. Yoshinao Koike
11. Junjun Liu
12. Xin Fan
13. Nao Otomo
14. Zefu Chen
15. Yaqi Li
16. Lulu Li
17. Haibo Xie
18. Panpan Zhu
19. Xiaoxin Li
20. Yuchen Niu
21. Shengru Wang
22. Sen Liu
23. Suomao Yuan
24. Chikashi Terao
25. Ziquan Li
26. Shaoke Chen
27. Xiuli Zhao
28. Pengfei Liu
29. Jennifer E Posey
30. Zhihong Wu
31. Guixing Qiu
32. DISCO study group (Deciphering Disorders Involving Scoliosis & COmorbidities)
33. Shiro Ikegawa
34. James R Lupski
35. Jonathan J Rios
36. Carol A Wise
37. Jianguo T Zhang
38. Chengtian Zhao
39. Nan Wu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Genetic variants have been strongly implicated in idiopathic scoliosis (IS), however, the list of variants that are causative of IS is not complete and the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie IS are poorly understood. These authors combined human genetic analysis with zebrafish experiments to produce valuable evidence that alleles that impair function of EPHA4 cause IS, thereby extending our understanding of the basis of IS. The human genetic data are quite convincing but the zebrafish work lacks some validations and details.

Reviewed by eLife

Condensin I ^DC has a Functional ATPase That is Required for X-Chromosome Dosage Compensation in C. elegans

1. Bahaar Chawla
2. Suchi Jatia
3. Dillon E Sloan
4. Gyorgyi Csankovszki

Reviewed by Review Commons

Tissue-specific responses to TFAM and mtDNA copy number manipulation in prematurely ageing mice

1. Laura Sophie Kremer
2. Guanbin Gao
3. Giovanni Rigoni
4. Roberta Filograna
5. Mara Mennuni
6. Rolf Wibom
7. Ákos Végvári
8. Camilla Koolmeister
9. Nils-Göran Larsson

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is an important study that examines the role of TFAM, a protein that helps maintain mtDNA, in mtDNA mutator mice. With convincing evidence, the authors have demonstrated that TFAM's counteractive role in mtDNA mutator mice is tissue-specific. The study does a thorough job of assessing the impact of modulating TFAM levels in a polg mutator mouse model of aging. The authors have thoroughly addressed all the points raised during the first round of review.

Reviewed by eLife