eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Human-specific lncRNAs contributed critically to human evolution by distinctly regulating gene expression

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Jie Lin
   2. Yujian Wen
   3. Ji Tang
   4. Xuecong Zhang
   5. Huanlin Zhang
   6. Hao Zhu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study uses tools of population and functional genomics to examine long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the context of human evolution. Analyses of computationally predicted human-specific lncRNAs and their genomic targets lead to the development of hypotheses regarding the potential roles of these genetic elements in human biology. The conclusions regarding evolutionary acceleration and adaptation, however, only incompletely take data and literature on human/chimpanzee genetics and functional genomics into account.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Pharmacological inhibition of CLK2 activates YAP by promoting alternative splicing of AMOTL2

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Maya L Bulos
   2. Edyta M Grzelak
   3. Chloris Li-Ma
   4. Emily Chen
   5. Mitchell Hull
   6. Kristen A Johnson
   7. Michael J Bollong

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This paper reports important findings on a potent activator of the YAP pathway, demonstrating its mechanism through alternative splicing changes. The authors provide convincing evidence to support their claims. This research is of interest to biologists studying alternative splicing or the Hippo pathway, with significant implications for medical research.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Quorum-sensing agr system of Staphylococcus aureus primes gene expression for protection from lethal oxidative stress

   This article has 26 authors:

   1. Magdalena Podkowik
   2. Andrew I Perault
   3. Gregory Putzel
   4. Andrew Pountain
   5. Jisun Kim
   6. Ashley L DuMont
   7. Erin E Zwack
   8. Robert J Ulrich
   9. Theodora K Karagounis
   10. Chunyi Zhou
   11. Andreas F Haag
   12. Julia Shenderovich
   13. Gregory A Wasserman
   14. Junbeom Kwon
   15. John Chen
   16. Anthony R Richardson
   17. Jeffrey N Weiser
   18. Carla R Nowosad
   19. Desmond S Lun
   20. Dane Parker
   21. Alejandro Pironti
   22. Xilin Zhao
   23. Karl Drlica
   24. Itai Yanai
   25. Victor J Torres
   26. Bo Shopsin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study outlines how the agr quorum sensing system in Staphylococcus aureus confers long-lived protection against oxidative stress, thereby linking bacterial metabolism to virulence in this pathogen. While the findings, which are supported by solid data, seem at first glance to contradict earlier findings that show increased fitness of agr mutants under oxidative stress, the core conclusions of the study are well-substantiated. The topic of the paper holds broad relevance to microbiologists, especially those focusing on host-pathogen interactions and bacterial responses to ROS.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Structural basis of EHEP-mediated offense against phlorotannin-induced defense from brown algae to protect akuBGL activity

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Xiaomei Sun
   2. Yuxin Ye
   3. Naofumi Sakurai
   4. Hang Wang
   5. Koji Kato
   6. Jian Yu
   7. Keizo Yuasa
   8. Akihiko Tsuji
   9. Min Yao

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study presents convincing evidence on how the sea slug Aplysia kurodai optimizes its digestion of brown algae, in a classical predator-prey 'arms race' at the molecular level. The experimental protein structures and enzyme assays provide support for the claims of how A. kurodai avoids inhibition by algal compounds, and also hold promise for biotechnological applications.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Characterization of tryptophan oxidation affecting D1 degradation by FtsH in the photosystem II quality control of chloroplasts

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Yusuke Kato
   2. Hiroshi Kuroda
   3. Shin-Ichiro Ozawa
   4. Keisuke Saito
   5. Vivek Dogra
   6. Martin Scholz
   7. Guoxian Zhang
   8. Catherine de Vitry
   9. Hiroshi Ishikita
   10. Chanhong Kim
   11. Michael Hippler
   12. Yuichiro Takahashi
   13. Wataru Sakamoto

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment:

     This study adds a fundamental new perspective to a long-standing question: What controls the repair of photosystem II (PSII), a key process in maintaining and optimizing photosynthesis? The work supports a role for chemical modification in the recognition and subsequent degradation of a key protein subunit of PSII by a bacterial-type protease, suggesting that tryptophan oxidation of components of the photosynthetic apparatus after high light stress plays a critical role in initiating the PSII repair system. The evidence supporting the authors' conclusions is solid.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Yeast cell responses and survival during periodic osmotic stress are controlled by glucose availability

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Fabien Duveau
   2. Céline Cordier
   3. Lionel Chiron
   4. Matthias Le Bec
   5. Sylvain Pouzet
   6. Julie Séguin
   7. Artémis Llamosi
   8. Benoit Sorre
   9. Jean-Marc Di Meglio
   10. Pascal Hersen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents important findings on how cells sense and respond to their surroundings, in particular when two environmental signals are presented periodically, in alternation or conjunction. The compelling analyses reveal some unexpected behaviors that could not have been drawn, from simpler experimental designs, related to the dynamic interplay between the starvation and hyper-osmotic stress responses in budding yeast, exemplifying that applying complex signals can unveil new biological insights, even for well-studied systems. The work will be of broad interest to researchers interested in fungal biology, dynamic systems, cell signaling, and cell biology.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Optimized path planning surpasses human efficiency in cryo-EM imaging

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Yilai Li
   2. Quanfu Fan
   3. Ziping Xu
   4. Emma Rose Lee
   5. John Cohn
   6. Veronique Demers
   7. Ja Young Lee
   8. Lucy Yip
   9. Michael A. Cianfrocco
   10. Seychelle M. Vos

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Cryo-EM has become the dominant method in structural biochemistry, and making more efficient use of expensive microscope time is therefore of broad interest to academic and industrial users. The authors identify a bottleneck in cryoEM data collection, namely path optimization, and provide a valuable machine-learning model to overcome this bottleneck. The solid data presented suggests their model can replace a human operator to automate efficient data collection.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Ulk4 promotes Shh signaling by regulating Stk36 ciliary localization and Gli2 phosphorylation

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Mengmeng Zhou
   2. Yuhong Han
   3. Jin Jiang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This fundamental study substantially advances our understanding of how the pseudokinase ULK4 interacts with an active member of the same kinase subfamily (STK36) to promote GLI phosphorylation and Hedgehog pathway activation. The evidence supporting the proposed mechanism is compelling, with rigorous biochemical assays and state-of-the-art cell based imaging techniques. The work will be of broad interest to cell biologists and biochemists.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Molecular mechanisms of microbiome modulation by the eukaryotic secondary metabolite azelaic acid

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Ahmed A Shibl
   2. Michael A Ochsenkühn
   3. Amin R Mohamed
   4. Ashley Isaac
   5. Lisa SY Coe
   6. Yejie Yun
   7. Grzegorz Skrzypek
   8. Jean-Baptiste Raina
   9. Justin R Seymour
   10. Ahmed J Afzal
   11. Shady A Amin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents valuable findings on the contrasting responses of two bacteria to the phytoplankton-derived compound azelaic acid. Metabolomics and transcriptomics evidence convincingly shows the assimilation pathway in one marine bacterium and a stress response in a second bacterium. The study provides evidence that azelaic acid can alter marine microbial community structure in mesocosm experiments, though the mechanisms underlying this shift in community structure remain to be explored in future studies.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. How hibernation in frogs drives brain and reproductive evolution in opposite directions

    This article has 4 authors:

    1. Wenbo Liao
    2. Ying Jiang
    3. Long Jin
    4. Stefan Lüpold

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      In this important paper, the authors report a link between brumation (or "hibernation") and tissue size in frogs, summarizing convincing evidence that extended brumation is associated with smaller brain size and increased investment in reproduction-related tissues. The research is of broad interest to ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and those interested in global change biology, as the dataset involves significant field work and advanced statistical analyses for insights into how expensive tissues in these ectothermic animals respond to environmental seasonality.

    Reviewed by eLife