eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Structural basis of CO2 valence coding in Drosophila

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Javorski Dominik
   2. Bergkirchner Beate
   3. Ensinger Gernot
   4. Lingl Alexander
   5. Navolic Jelena
   6. Batawi Ashwaq
   7. Hummel Thomas

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides a detailed anatomical and functional framework for understanding CO₂ processing and behavioral flexibility in Drosophila. The significance of the work is important, as it identifies how specific neural circuits, such as LN23, modulate innately aversive signals across different contexts. The strength of the evidence is convincing, supported by a robust combination of connectomics, anatomical reconstructions, and targeted behavioral manipulations.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Bayesian causal inference unifies perceptual and neuronal processing of center-surround motion in area MT

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Gabor Lengyel
   2. Sabyasachi Shivkumar
   3. Gregory C. DeAngelis
   4. Ralf M. Haefner

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript represents a valuable contribution to understanding motion processing in the visual cortex. Based on a heterogeneous collection of previous empirical findings, the authors show that the diversity of tuning curves in the middle temporal (MT) area, in response to moving center-surround images, can be explained by Bayesian inference combined with neural sampling. The model rests on strong and solid assumptions about the prior and likelihood; independent evidence that neither of these factors is misspecified would strengthen the work.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Beyond Acoustic Cues: Olfactory-Mediated Avoidance of Bats by Crickets

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Yannan Li
   2. Wenhao Zhang
   3. Jiaqi Wei
   4. Hanhong Xu
   5. Jiang Feng
   6. Aiqing Lin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study raises the intriguing possibility that crickets use bat-associated odors as cues of predation risk, extending the classic bat-insect arms race beyond its usual acoustic framework. The authors combine fecal metabarcoding, behavioral assays, electrophysiology, chemical analyses, and field observations to show that Loxoblemmus equestris avoids the odor of the insectivorous bat Scotophilus kuhlii, and that synthetic (-)-limonene can elicit antennal responses, avoidance in the laboratory, and reduced calling activity in the field. However, the evidence is currently incomplete because the identity, biological source, natural concentration, and ecological specificity of limonene as a bat-derived predator cue require stronger support, including clearer quantification, contamination controls, individual-level odor data, and evidence that crickets can distinguish bat-associated limonene from common environmental sources. The work will be of interest to researchers in sensory ecology, chemical ecology, predator-prey interactions, and bat-insect coevolution.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Cytoplasmic circular dsDNA is a key constituent of stress granules

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Natalia A Demeshkina
   2. Adrian R Ferré-D’Amaré

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study demonstrates that extrachromosomal circular DNA and chromatin-associated proteins are components of stress granules. The data from a range of cellular and microscopy approaches are convincing, but the main conclusions would be further strengthened by demonstrating functional relevance and by extending the analysis to additional cell types. This paper will be of broad interest to cell biologists and those studying stress granule formation.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Identifying and targeting the Mg-Fe-PmrAB regulatory circuit reverses phosphate starvation-driven polymyxin resistance in Enterobacteriaceae

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Guangming Zhang
   2. Ziqing Deng
   3. Jiezhang Jiang
   4. Minji Wang
   5. Xiaoyuan Wang
   6. Xiaoyun Liu
   7. Aixin Yan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study characterizes a potentially targetable mechanism by which phosphate scarcity drives polymyxin B resistance in Enterobacteriaceae. The findings are important. While some aspects of the approach are very strong, particularly the diversity of techniques, it is recommended to include genetic controls and antibiotic resistance experiments in order to strengthen the evidence, which is currently solid. The clarity and presentation of the findings could also be improved.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Developmental Synchrony of Retinal Waves, Apoptosis, and Angiogenesis in Postnatal Retina

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Michael A Savage
   2. Cori Bertram
   3. Jean de Montigny
   4. Courtney A Thorne
   5. Rachel Queen
   6. Majlinda Lako
   7. Gerrit Hilgen
   8. Evelyne Sernagor

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study identifies apoptotic retinal ganglion cells as a potential source of ATP-mediated activation of PANX1 channels that initiate developmental retinal Ca²⁺ waves and coordinate microglial activation and vascular outgrowth with postnatal maturation. The work is important because it proposed an integrative framework linking programmed cell death, spontaneous neural activity, immune responses, and angiogenesis into a self-regulating developmental loop. The multimodal data are solid, but the mechanistic conclusions would be strengthened by complementary genetic approaches, such as PANX1 or BAX knockout models, to establish direct causality.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. PIK3CA-related overgrowth spectrum (PROS) zebrafish models reveal pan-lineage developmental dysregulation

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Hannah Brunsdon
   2. Nuoya Wang
   3. Micha Sam Brickman Raredon
   4. Ralitsa R Madsen
   5. Robert K Semple
   6. E Elizabeth Patton

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is an important study that establishes a zebrafish model of PIK3CA-related overgrowth syndrome. The imaging characterization of the mesodermal, particularly vascular, lesions of the model is compelling. The scRNA-Seq analysis is convincing, revealing key perturbations in the PIK3CA-mutation model, although deeper investigation of the exact mechanism leading to the lesions, as well as validation at different time points, could further strengthen the findings. This work will be of interest to medical biologists working on PROS, and potentially to a broader audience interested in non-cell-autonomous signaling of PIK3CA and its implications in other diseases.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Single-cell spatial mapping reveals reproducible cell type organization and spatially-dependent gene expression in gastruloids

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Catherine G Triandafillou
   2. Pranav Sompalle
   3. Yael Heyman
   4. Arjun Raj

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This work presents important findings on quantifying gene coexpression from spatial omics. These quantification methods have been applied to gastruloid to describe how genes are spatialised. The description of the quantifying tools might be incomplete, which also weakens the biological message. Clearer formalization and justification of quantification will improve the study.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Essential function reflected in the phylodynamics of a multigene family – the pir genes of malaria parasites

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Andrew P. Jackson
   2. Deirdre A. Cunningham
   3. Lin Lin
   4. Naomi Mara Claro de Oliveira
   5. Séverine C. Chevalley-Maurel
   6. Giulia Pianta
   7. Franziska Morhing
   8. Abigail K. Renfree
   9. Timothy S. Little
   10. Robert W. Moon
   11. Jean Langhorne
   12. Chris J. Janse
   13. Blandine M.D. Franke-Fayard
   14. Christiaan van Ooij

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study provides the first broad cross-species evolutionary analysis of the pir multigene family in malaria parasites, showing that the family evolved through rapid duplication and loss while retaining a small number of conserved orthologs with essential functions. The authors identify pirC1 as a key determinant of parasite growth across multiple Plasmodium species. However, the work remains incomplete because the mechanistic role of PIRCl and its precise subcellular localization are not directly resolved.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. A genetic toolkit for stable episomal transgenesis in the anaerobic gut parasite Blastocystis ST7-B

    This article has 3 authors:

    1. M Rey Toleco
    2. Kevin SW Tan
    3. Mark van der Giezen

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This paper presents a valuable methodology for genetic manipulation of Blastocystis. Although some imaging data are compelling, higher-quality figures together with more rigorous biochemical assays would strengthen support for the authors' claims. With the experimental evidence and graphics improved, the study would be of interest both to researchers investigating mitochondrial evolution under anaerobic conditions and to medical biologists studying human pathogens.

    Reviewed by eLife