Latest preprint reviews

1. MOB rules: Antibiotic Exposure Reprograms Metabolism to Mobilize Bacillus subtilis in Competitive Interactions

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Yongjin Liu
   2. Sandra LaBonte
   3. Courtney Brake
   4. Carol LaFayette
   5. Adam P. Rosebrock
   6. Amy A. Caudy
   7. Paul D. Straight

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This paper reports on the transcriptional changes upon chloramphenicol-induced surface mobility of Bacillus subtilis, a phenomenon that can occur during co-incubation with Streptomyces venezuelae, a chloramphenicol producer. The work presented includes valuable and thorough transcriptomics data, which convincingly indicate that sub-lethal chloramphenicol triggers substantial changes in B. subtilis gene expression. There are, however, significant limitations and concerns whether the documented changes are causal for the phenotypes observed or simply correlated with these phenotypes; additionally, the notion that chloramphenicol triggers a 'division of labor' was incomplete and should be backed up experimentally.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. A packaging signal-binding protein regulates the assembly checkpoint of integrative filamentous phages

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Ting-Yu Yeh
   2. Michael C. Feehley
   3. Patrick J. Feehley
   4. Vivian Y. Ooi
   5. Yi-Yung Hung
   6. Shao-Cheng Wang
   7. Gregory P. Contreras

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable work describes a new protein factor that is required for filamentous phage assembly. Convincing evidence is provided for the binding of PSB15 to the packaging signal of the single-stranded DNA, Trx, and cardiolipin, and a mechanism for how the phage DNA is targeted to the assembly site in the bacterial inner membrane is presented. The work will be of interest to microbiologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Observational activation of anterior cingulate cortical neurons coordinates hippocampal replay in social learning

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Xiang Mou
   2. Daoyun Ji

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study provides solid evidence of coordinated spiking activity of neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and correlated activity in the CA1 subregion of the hippocampus, during observational learning. The authors also show coordinated ACC-CA1 neural activity during rest periods prior to the performance of the observationally learned task. The important findings advance the field's understanding of neural mechanisms underlying social learning.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. A ventral hippocampal-lateral septum pathway regulates social novelty preference

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Maha Rashid
   2. Sarah Thomas
   3. Jennifer Isaac
   4. Sonia Karkare
   5. Hannah Klein
   6. Malavika Murugan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important manuscript uses circuit mapping, chemogenetics, and optogenetics to demonstrate a novel hippocampal lateral septal circuit that regulates social novelty behaviours and shows that downstream of the hippocampal septal circuit, septal projections to the ventral tegmental area are necessary for general novelty discrimination. The strength of the evidence supporting the claims is convincing but would be strengthened by the inclusion of additional functional assays. The work will be of interest to systems and behavioural neuroscientists who are interested in the brain mechanisms of social behaviours.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Spatiotemporal Changes in Netrin/Dscam1 Signaling Dictate Axonal Projection Direction in Drosophila Small Ventral Lateral Clock Neurons

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Jingjing Liu
   2. Yuedong Wang
   3. Junhai Han
   4. Yao Tian

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study provides valuable insights into the mechanism of axonal directional changes, utilizing sLNv neurons as a model. The data were collected and analysed using solid methodology, although the conceptual framing of the work and contextualization of the results require revision and reassessment. The study holds potential interest for neurobiologists focusing on axonal growth and development.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Anti-drift pose tracker (ADPT): A transformer-based network for robust animal pose estimation cross-species

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Guoling Tang
   2. Yaning Han
   3. Quanying Liu
   4. Pengfei Wei

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study introduces a useful deep learning-based algorithm that tracks animal postures with reduced drift by incorporating transformers for more robust keypoint detection. The efficacy of this new algorithm for single-animal pose estimation was demonstrated through comparisons with two popular algorithms. However, the analysis is incomplete and would benefit from comparisons with other state-of-the-art methods and consideration of multi-animal tracking.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Mitochondrial stress in GABAergic neurons non-cell autonomously regulates organismal health and aging

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Laxmi Rathor
   2. Shayla Curry
   3. Youngyong Park
   4. Taylor McElroy
   5. Briana Robles
   6. Yi Sheng
   7. Wei-Wen Chen
   8. Kisuk Min
   9. Rui Xiao
   10. Myon Hee Lee
   11. Sung Min Han

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study interrogates cell non-autonomous signaling between GABAergic neurons and somatic tissues in the nematode C. elegans. The authors report that mitochondrial stress in only GABAergic neurons extends lifespan and improves healthspan, phenotypes that are dependent on the transcription factor daf-16/FOXO3a. However, while the findings may be valuable to furthering our understanding of neuronal control of aging and health, the current evidence is incomplete and additional experiments are needed to support their claims.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. A transcription network underlies the dual genomic coordination of mitochondrial biogenesis

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Fan Zhang
   2. Annie Lee
   3. Anna V. Freitas
   4. Jake T. Herb
   5. Zongheng Wang
   6. Snigdha Gupta
   7. Zhe Chen
   8. Hong Xu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents valuable insight into a nuclear-encoded transcription factor network and the role of one transcription factor Clifford in mitochondrial biogenesis. The experimental design, data collection, and analyses are solid. Addressing a few points related to mitochondrial and ETC biogenesis will further strengthen the study.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Hidden GPCR structural transitions addressed by multiple walker supervised molecular dynamics (mwSuMD)

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Giuseppe Deganutti
   2. Ludovico Pipitò
   3. Roxana M. Rujan
   4. Tal Weizmann
   5. Peter Griffin
   6. Antonella Ciancetta
   7. Stefano Moro
   8. Christopher A. Reynolds

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study provides a methodological report on a modified adaptive sampling approach, multiple walker supervised molecular dynamics (mwSuMD), and its application to G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR), which are the most abundant membrane proteins and key targets for drugs. The mwSuMD approach assists in sampling complex binding processes, leading to some useful findings for GPCR activity, although results may be considered incomplete because the approach may have limited convergence to high-resolution structural data and is lacking other validation. The manuscript explores perhaps too many case studies at the expense of depth of description of methods, reference to existing computational literature, and deeper insight into GPCR activity.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. An Hfq-dependent post-transcriptional mechanism fine tunes RecB expression in Escherichia coli

    This article has 6 authors:

    1. Irina Kalita
    2. Ira Alexandra Iosub
    3. Lorna McLaren
    4. Louise Goossens
    5. Sander Granneman
    6. Meriem El Karoui

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      Combining experimental and computation approaches, this manuscript provides solid evidence for a post-transcriptional mechanism that provides robust control over the protein expression level of RecB in E. coli. In addition to uncovering how DNA damage drives more efficient translation of RecB protein, this work also reveals important tenets for how broader mechanisms that suppress noise and underlie responsive tuning of protein levels can be achieved.

    Reviewed by eLife