The Natural History of Model Organisms

Osmolarity-independent electrical cues guide rapid response to injury in zebrafish epidermis

1. Andrew S Kennard
2. Julie A Theriot

Reviewed by eLife, preLights

Plant secondary metabolite-dependent plant-soil feedbacks can improve crop yield in the field

1. Valentin Gfeller
2. Jan Waelchli
3. Stephanie Pfister
4. Gabriel Deslandes-Hérold
5. Fabio Mascher
6. Gaetan Glauser
7. Yvo Aeby
8. Adrien Mestrot
9. Christelle AM Robert
10. Klaus Schlaeppi
11. Matthias Erb

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study presents findings that are important for understanding plant-soil feedbacks in agriculture. The authors use a large-scale agricultural field experiment to demonstrate the role of root-emitted secondary metabolites in enhancing the yield of the next crop. By using a benzoxazinoid-deficient maize genotype, the authors provide compelling evidence that biomass production and grain yield of several wheat varieties can be increased when grown in soil conditioned by maize plants able to release benzoxazinoids.

Reviewed by eLife

Pre-existing chromosomal polymorphisms in pathogenic E. coli potentiate the evolution of resistance to a last-resort antibiotic

1. Pramod K Jangir
2. Qiue Yang
3. Liam P Shaw
4. Julio Diaz Caballero
5. Lois Ogunlana
6. Rachel Wheatley
7. Timothy Walsh
8. R Craig MacLean

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This paper combines evolution experiments with genomic analysis of environmental samples to study the evolution of colistin resistance in E. coli. It highlights the importance of pre-existing genomic variations in clinical strains in driving the evolution of antibiotic resistance. The results presented here are relevant for clinical and non-clinical microbiologists studying antibiotic resistance to last-resort drugs like colistin. The design of the research is simple and elegant, and the genomic data analysis connects the in vitro findings to the real world. However, the authors could better align the experimental and clinical data, and better clarify their experimental design choices.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 and Reviewer #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Regulation of anterior neurectoderm specification and differentiation by BMP signaling in ascidians

1. Agnès Roure
2. Rafath Chowdhury
3. Sébastien Darras

Reviewed by Review Commons

Mutational robustness changes during long-term adaptation in laboratory budding yeast populations

1. Milo S Johnson
2. Michael M Desai

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Johnson and Desai previously reported "increasing cost epistasis", where mutations tended to have more deleterious effects in higher fitness backgrounds. Here they use the same system as before to investigate adapting populations by introducing a set of 91 mutations at multiple time points. As expected, the mean fitness effect of the mutations does decline in most (but not all) populations as they adapt but the effect is weaker than in the previous work, and in another condition, mean fitness effects of mutations do not change as the populations adapt. They suggest an intriguing interpretation (among others) that the "control coefficient" of selection on growth shifts between different genetic modules over time.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

The AUX1-AFB1-CNGC14 module establishes a longitudinal root surface pH profile

1. Nelson BC Serre
2. Daša Wernerová
3. Pruthvi Vittal
4. Shiv Mani Dubey
5. Eva Medvecká
6. Adriana Jelínková
7. Jan Petrášek
8. Guido Grossmann
9. Matyáš Fendrych

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study presents valuable findings that relate the pH pattern along the root surface of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana to the auxin response and gravitropic (changes in growth orientation) response. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid, based on the observation of dynamic responses at a second-to-minute time scale and the systematic correlation between the observed changes in the longitudinal surface pH profile and changes in growth rate. The work will be of interest to a wide range of plant biologists working on plant development and responses to the environment.

Reviewed by eLife

Removal of extracellular human amyloid beta aggregates by extracellular proteases in C. elegans

1. Elisabeth Jongsma
2. Anita Goyala
3. José Maria Mateos
4. Collin Yvès Ewald

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  Using a newly developed C. elegans model of Alzheimer's disease that expresses Abeta aggregates extracellularly, the authors provide convincing evidence of a disintegrin and an ortholog of human ADAM9 that participate in removing these extracellular aggregates. The worm model presented in this important paper may be very useful to the Alzheimer Disease field.

Reviewed by eLife

Interplay between historical and current features of the cityscape in shaping the genetic structure of the house mouse (Mus musculus domesticus) in Dakar (Senegal, West Africa)

1. Claire Stragier
2. Sylvain Piry
3. Anne Loiseau
4. Mamadou Kane
5. Aliou Sow
6. Youssoupha Niang
7. Mamoudou Diallo
8. Arame Ndiaye
9. Philippe Gauthier
10. Marion Borderon
11. Laurent Granjon
12. Carine Brouat
13. Karine Berthier

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

Neural mechanisms of parasite-induced summiting behavior in ‘zombie’ Drosophila

1. Carolyn Elya
2. Danylo Lavrentovich
3. Emily Lee
4. Cassandra Pasadyn
5. Jasper Duval
6. Maya Basak
7. Valerie Saykina
8. Benjamin de Bivort

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The phenomenon of summit disease, where complex animal behaviours are controlled by single-celled parasites, captivates biologists and non-scientists alike. In this valuable study, the authors use a laboratory model (Drosophila melanogaster infected with Entomophthora muscae) for this disease to provide compelling evidence for the neuroanatomical and physiological underpinnings of summit disease. This is an excellent example of how seemingly intractable questions in behavioural ecology can be effectively addressed in laboratory settings using decades of work in creating 'models' for biology.

Reviewed by eLife

Thermoprotection by a cell membrane–localized metacaspase in a green alga

1. Yong Zou
2. Igor Sabljić
3. Natalia Horbach
4. Adrian N Dauphinee
5. Anna Åsman
6. Lucia Sancho Temino
7. Elena A Minina
8. Marcin Drag
9. Simon Stael
10. Marcin Poreba
11. Jerry Ståhlberg
12. Peter V Bozhkov

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Extensive age-dependent loss of antibody diversity in naturally short-lived turquoise killifish

1. William John Bradshaw
2. Michael Poeschla
3. Aleksandra Placzek
4. Samuel Kean
5. Dario Riccardo Valenzano

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This study introduces the killifish as a potential model for immune aging and immunosenescence and characterizes the changes in age-associated immune-repertoire. The authors convincingly show a decrease in diversity of the large expanded B-cell clones that is greater than small clones and a more pronounced change in the intestinal antibody repertoire with age. These results strongly suggest that killifish undergo age-related immunosenescence. Adding functional measures of the immune system would strengthen this conclusion.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Organ-Founder Stem Cells Mediate Post-Embryonic Neuromast Formation In Medaka

1. Karen Gross
2. Tuğçe Raif
3. Ali Seleit
4. Jasmin Onistschenko
5. Isabel Krämer
6. Lazaro Centanin

Reviewed by Review Commons

High social status males experience accelerated epigenetic aging in wild baboons

1. Jordan A Anderson
2. Rachel A Johnston
3. Amanda J Lea
4. Fernando A Campos
5. Tawni N Voyles
6. Mercy Y Akinyi
7. Susan C Alberts
8. Elizabeth A Archie
9. Jenny Tung

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  In this paper, the authors collect epigenomic data from a well-studied wild baboon community, which they use to construct an epigenetic clock, a method of measuring "biological age" that is increasingly used as a tool in human aging research. The authors find that deviations between biological and chronological age can in part be explained by social phenomena. In particular, for male baboons, maintaining social dominance may play an important role in accelerating the dimension of aging indexed by this measure. This is a foundational study for social-biological-health research.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 and Reviewer #2 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

The infection-tolerant white-footed deermouse tempers interferon responses to endotoxin in comparison to the mouse and rat

1. Ana Milovic
2. Jonathan V Duong
3. Alan G Barbour

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides a comprehensive whole genome transcriptomic analysis of three small mammals, including Peromyscus leucopus, after exposure to endotoxin lipopolysaccharide. The authors find that the inflammatory response of the three species is complex and that P. leucopus responds differently compared to mice and rats. The data are convincing and constitute an important advance in our understanding of inflammatory responses in animals that serve as reservoirs for relevant pathogens.

Reviewed by eLife

Direct and transgenerational effects of an experimental heat wave on early life stages in a freshwater snail

1. Katja Leicht
2. Otto Seppälä

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

Goal-directed vocal planning in a songbird

1. Anja T. Zai
2. Anna E. Stepien
3. Nicolas Giret
4. Richard H.R. Hahnloser

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important work identifies a previously uncharacterized capacity for songbird to recover vocal targets even without sensory experience. The evidence supporting this claim is convincing, with technically difficult and innovative experiments exploring goal-directed vocal plasticity in deafened birds. This work has broad relevance to the fields of vocal and motor learning.

Reviewed by eLife, PREreview

Higher social tolerance is associated with more complex facial behavior in macaques

1. Alan V Rincon
2. Bridget M Waller
3. Julie Duboscq
4. Alexander Mielke
5. Claire Pérez
6. Peter R Clark
7. Jérôme Micheletta

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study shows important evidence of the correlation between social tolerance and communicative complexity in a comparison of three macaque species. Notably, the authors use an innovative, detailed methodology for quantifying facial expressions during social interactions. The results are convincing regarding a positive association between social complexity and facial behaviour, which should stimulate further comparative research in this field.

Reviewed by eLife

Gain of gene regulatory network interconnectivity at the origin of vertebrates

1. Alejandro Gil-Gálvez
2. Sandra Jiménez-Gancedo
3. Alberto Pérez-Posada
4. Martin Franke
5. Rafael D. Acemel
6. Che-Yi Lin
7. Cindy Chou
8. Yi-Hsien Su
9. Jr-Kai Yu
10. Stephanie Bertrand
11. Michael Schubert
12. Héctor Escrivá
13. Juan J. Tena
14. José Luis Gómez-Skarmeta

Reviewed by preLights