eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. H2A.Z deposition at meiotic prophase I underlies homologous recombination and pachytene genome activation during male meiosis

   This article has 18 authors:

   1. Shenfei Sun
   2. Yamei Jiang
   3. Ning Jiang
   4. Qiaoli Zhang
   5. Hongjie Pan
   6. Fujing Huang
   7. Xinna Zhang
   8. Yuxuan Guo
   9. Xiaoyu You
   10. Kai Gong
   11. Wei Wei
   12. Hanmin Liu
   13. Zhenju Song
   14. Yuanlin Song
   15. Xiaofang Tang
   16. Miao Yu
   17. Runsheng Li
   18. Xinhua Lin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study shows that Znhit1, a regulator of chromatin and of the histone variant H2A.Z, is required for progression through meiotic prophase. It is an important observation that describes the role of epigenetics and gene expression during meiosis. The analysis is based on complementary approaches at the cytological, single-cell, and genomic levels that provide solid evidence for the role of Znhit1 in the control of gene expression and in the loading of H2A.Z in mouse spermatocytes.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Reported transgenerational responses to Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Caenorhabditis elegans are not robust

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Daniel Patrick Gainey
   2. Andrey V Shubin
   3. Craig P Hunter

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study reports numerous attempts to replicate reports on transgenerational inheritance of a learned behavior – pathogen avoidance – in C. elegans. While the authors observe parental effects that are limited to a single generation (also called intergenerational inheritance), the authors failed to find evidence for transmission over multiple generations, or transgenerational inheritance. The experiments presented are meticulously described, making for compelling evidence that in the authors' hands transgenerational inheritance cannot be observed. There remains the possibility that different assay setups explain the failure to reproduce previous observations, although the authors present data suggesting that details of the assay are not that significant. There also remains the possibility that differences in culture conditions or lab environment explain the failure to reproduce previous observations, with updates to the paper having further reduced the probability that this applies here. Even if this were the case, it would imply that the original experimental paradigm was dependent on a very specific context. Given the prominence of the original reports of transgenerational inheritance, the present study is of broad interest to anyone studying genetics, epigenetics, or learned behavior.

     [As also pointed out by the authors of this study, the authors of the original reports have provided a response on bioRxiv (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.21.634111).]

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Distinct activation mechanisms of CXCR4 and ACKR3 revealed by single-molecule analysis of their conformational landscapes

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Christopher T Schafer
   2. Raymond F Pauszek
   3. Martin Gustavsson
   4. Tracy M Handel
   5. David P Millar

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript describes the characterization of the conformational dynamics of two chemokine receptors at the single-molecule level using FRET. The authors make a convincing case for attributing the distinct interaction and pharmacology of the two receptors to differences in their conformational energy landscape. These important findings will be of interest to scientists working on activation mechanisms of GPCRs and signal transduction.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Bam complex associated proteins in Escherichia coli are functionally linked to peptidoglycan biosynthesis, membrane fluidity and DNA replication

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Jack A Bryant
   2. Kara A Staunton
   3. Hannah M Doherty
   4. Micheal B Alao
   5. Xuyu Ma
   6. Joanna Morcinek-Orłowska
   7. Emily CA Goodall
   8. Jessica Gray
   9. Mathew Milner
   10. Jeffrey A Cole
   11. Felicity de Cogan
   12. Timothy J Knowles
   13. Monika Glinkowska
   14. Danesh Moradigaravand
   15. Ian R Henderson
   16. Manuel Banzhaf

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This is a useful study that generated a rich inventory of genetic interactions with the potential to produce new insight into the molecular function of Bam-associated proteins. The interactions with genes of unknown function are of special interest as they may suggest experiments to find the functions of these genes. The overall data provided to support their conclusions is solid, but there is a major concern with known polar effects on certain mutations, which should be addressed by complementation.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. The paradox of extremely fast evolution driven by genetic drift in multi-copy gene systems

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Xiaopei Wang
   2. Yongsen Ruan
   3. Lingjie Zhang
   4. Xiangnyu Chen
   5. Zongkun Shi
   6. Haiyu Wang
   7. Bingjie Chen
   8. Miles Tracy
   9. Liying Huang
   10. Chung-I Wu
   11. Haijun Wen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a useful theoretical model of molecular evolution of multi-copy gene systems by extending the classic Haldane model and applies the model to explain the surprisingly rapid evolution of rRNA genes. Although the conceptual model is intuitive and provides a new perspective for contextualizing this problem, the model presented does not adequately consider plausible biological constraints on the molecular and genetic processes. The lack of such constraints in the model, along with technical issues in the data analysis, provide incomplete support for the conclusion that the genetic variation patterns of rRNA genes in mouse is compatible with neutral evolution.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Structural basis for molecular assembly of fucoxanthin chlorophyll a/c-binding proteins in a diatom photosystem I supercomplex

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Koji Kato
   2. Yoshiki Nakajima
   3. Jian Xing
   4. Minoru Kumazawa
   5. Haruya Ogawa
   6. Jian-Ren Shen
   7. Kentaro Ifuku
   8. Ryo Nagao

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study presents a high-resolution cryoEM structure of the supercomplex between photosystem I (PSI) and fucoxanthin chlorophyll a/c-binding proteins (FCPs) from the model diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana CCMP1335, revealing subunits, protein:protein interactions and pigments not previously seen in other diatoms or red/green photosynthetic lineages. Combining structural, sequence and phylogenetic analyses, the authors provide convincing evidence of conserved motifs crucial for the binding of FCPs, accompanied by interesting speculation about the mechanisms governing the assembly of PSI-FCP supercomplexes in diatoms and their implications for related PSI-LHC supercomplexes in plants. The findings set the stage for functional experiments that will further advance the fields of photosynthesis, bioenergy, ocean biogeochemistry and evolutionary relationships between photosynthetic organisms.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Spatial integration of sensory input and motor output in Pseudomonas aeruginosa chemotaxis through colocalized distribution

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Zhengyu Wu
   2. Maojin Tian
   3. Sanyuan Fu
   4. Min Chen
   5. Rongjing Zhang
   6. Junhua Yuan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study by Wu et al presents convincing data on bacterial cell organization, demonstrating that the two structures that account for bacterial motility - the chemotaxis complex and the flagella - colocalize to the same pole in Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells, and expose the regulation underlying their spatial organization and functioning. This manuscript will be of interest to cell biologists, primarily those studying bacteria.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. An applicable and efficient retrograde monosynaptic circuit mapping tool for larval zebrafish

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Tian-Lun Chen
   2. Qiu-Sui Deng
   3. Kun-Zhang Lin
   4. Xiu-Dan Zheng
   5. Xin Wang
   6. Yong-Wei Zhong
   7. Xin-Yu Ning
   8. Ying Li
   9. Fu-Qiang Xu
   10. Jiu-Lin Du
   11. Xu-Fei Du

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study offers substantial technical advancements for neural circuit tracing in larval zebrafish, a model for systems and developmental neurobiology. The enhanced rabies virus-based retrograde transneuronal tracing improves efficiency and provides a method for combined structural and functional brain mapping. The supporting evidence is solid, and there is strong confidence in the technique's utility for neurobiologists working with zebrafish.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. sisterless A is required for activation of Sex lethal in the Drosophila germline

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Raghav Goyal
   2. Ellen Baxter
   3. Mark Van Doren

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This useful study reports that the Drosophila transcription factor sisterless A (sisA) regulates the expression of Sex-lethal (Sxl) in female germ cells. The data supporting claims regarding the genetic requirement of sisA are convincing, but the characterization of the cis-regulatory elements controlling Sxl expression in the female germline is viewed as incomplete. The work will be of significant interest to colleagues studying reproductive biology and sex determination.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Formin-like 1β phosphorylation at S1086 is necessary for secretory polarized traffic of exosomes at the immune synapse in Jurkat T lymphocytes

    This article has 9 authors:

    1. Javier Ruiz-Navarro
    2. Sara Fernández-Hermira
    3. Irene Sanz-Fernández
    4. Pablo Barbeito
    5. Alfonso Navarro-Zapata
    6. Antonio Pérez-Martínez
    7. Francesc R Garcia-Gonzalo
    8. Víctor Calvo
    9. Manuel Izquierdo Pastor

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This important study uses the Jurkat T cell model to study the role of Formin-like 1 β phosphorylation at S1086 on actin dynamics and exosome release at the immunological synapse. The evidence supporting these findings is compelling within the framework of the Jurkat model. As the Jurkat model is known to have a bias toward formin-mediated actin filament formation at the expense of Arp2/3-mediated branched F-actin foci observed in primary T cells, it will be beneficial in the future to confirm major findings in primary T cells.

    Reviewed by eLife