Evaluated articles

eLife Assessment

Leveraging state-of-the-art experimental and analytical approaches, this important study characterizes the recruitment and activation of large populations of human motor units during slow isometric contractions in two lower limb muscles. Evidence for the main claims is solid and advances our understanding of how humans generate and control voluntary force.

eLife assessment

This valuable study has characterized the unique expression of Schlemm's canal endothelial cells (SECs) using FACS-sorted specific cell bulk RNA-Seq and scRNA-/snRNA-Seq of mouse SECs. The compelling study identified novel biomarkers for SECs and molecular markers for two inner wall SEC states and outwall SECs in mouse eyes. Significant gene networks and pathways were elucidated for their potential contribution to glaucoma pathogenesis, providing targets for further research in relation to glaucoma.

eLife Assessment

This fundamental work demonstrates the importance of considering overlapping modes of functional organization (i.e. gradients) in the hippocampus, showing associations with aging, dopaminergic receptor distribution and episodic memory. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing, although not all analyses were performed in a replication sample. The work will be of broad interest to basic and clinical neuroscientists.

eLife Assessment

This useful study reports on the impact of antibiotic pressure on the genomic stability of the mc2155 strain of Mycobacterium smegmatis, a model for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The findings of the study indicate that exposure to antibiotics did not lead to the development of new adaptive mutations in controlled laboratory environments, challenging the notion that antibiotic resistance arises from drug-induced microevolution. The genomic analysis provides detailed insights into the stability of M. smegmatis following exposure to standard TB treatment antibiotics, and the evidence suggesting that antibiotic pressure does not contribute to the emergence of new adaptive mutations is solid.

eLife Assessment

The article uses a cell-based model to investigate how mutations and cells spread throughout a tumour. The paper uses published data and the proposed model to understand how growth and death mechanisms lead to the observed data. This work provides an important insight into the early stages of tumour development. From the work provided here, the results are convincing, using a thorough analysis.

eLife assessment

This study presents a valuable optimization algorithm to identify polymer models that best fit population-averaged chromosome contact data that will be of interest to physicists and biologists working on chromatin organization. The conclusions are supported by solid evidence.

eLife Assessment

This important study reports single-nucleus multiomics-based profiling of transcriptome and chromatin accessibility of mouse XX and XY primordial germ cells (PGCs). The main conclusions of this study, which will be of interest to developmental and reproductive biologists, as well as andrologists, are supported by convincing data.

eLife assessment

The fundamental findings of this work substantially advance our understanding of the impact of the host on its gut microbes. The authors provided compelling evidence at single-cell resolution that the host can drive heterogeneity in the populations of gut microbes with significant consequences for the host physiology.

eLife assessment

This important study presents new knowledge of the spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) niche in trans women after gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT). The evidence supporting the claims is convincing. The work will be of interest to researchers and clinicians working in the field of reproductive medicine and andrology.

eLife Assessment

This valuable study assesses through simulations how several features of local cortical circuits - interneuron subtypes, their specific targeting of dendritic compartments, and certain brain rhythms - together affect the integration of synaptic inputs by a pyramidal cell. Employing several carefully considered simulation setups they convincingly demonstrate that beta rhythms are best suited to modulate and control dendritic Ca-spikes while gamma rhythms affect their coupling to somatic spiking, or how basal inputs are directly integrated into somatic spikes. However, the baseline setup may be idealized for the generation of the events in question and it would be beneficial if the similarity to the in-vivo activity regime was demonstrated further. The results will be relevant for neuroscientists studying local circuits or developing more abstract theories at the systems level.

eLife assessment

This valuable paper presents convincing evidence that changing the constraint of how long to stop at an intermediate target significantly influences the degree of coarticulation of two sequential reaching movements, as well as their response to mechanical perturbations. Using an optimal-control framework, the authors offer a normative explanation of how both co-articulated and separated sequential movement can be understood as an optimal solution to the task requirements.

eLife assessment

This important and novel study addresses the challenge of antimicrobial resistance by targeting plasmid proteins that interfere with plasmid transfer as a strategy to limit the spread of antibiotic-resistance genes. The evidence presented and the integration of two approaches to tackle antimicrobial resistance is convincing. This work will interest those working on plasmid transfer and antimicrobial resistance.

eLife Assessment

This important study reports that genome-wide signatures of relaxed purifying selection in genes associated with male fertility may reflect an evolutionary response to reduced sperm competition in the gorilla mating system. The authors present compelling data that robustly support their central conclusion. This work will be of broad interest to investigators in evolutionary biology and reproductive biology.

eLife assessment

This study provides important evidence that links acetylcholine responses in the sensory cortex to motor actions during perceptual tasks, rather than to rewards. The evidence for the association between acetylcholine responses and motor actions is solid, but does not demonstrate the causal link implied by the title and abstract. The manuscript would benefit from a more detailed description of results and methodologies. This study is of broad interest to the neuroscience field.

eLife Assessment

This valuable paper describes the stiffness of meiotic chromosomes in both oocytes and spermatocytes. The authors identify differences in stiffness between meiosis I and II chromosomes, as well as an age-dependent increase in stiffness in meiosis I (and meiosis II) chromosomes, results that are highly significant for the field of chromosome biology. The report is, however, mostly descriptive and the mechanisms underlying age-dependent changes in chromosome stiffness remain unclear. The evidence suggesting that changes in stiffness are independent of cohesin, which is known to deteriorate with age, is still incomplete.

eLife Assessment

This important study provides evidence of a deeply conserved role for the gene Mirror in providing positional identity in the posterior part of butterfly and fly wings, despite increased morphological complexity of butterfly wings. The findings are solid for the field of evo-devo. However, the tools in butterflies are more limited than in Drosophila and it is more difficult to determine which specific cells are mutant and whether the effect of mutation is cell-intrinsic. The work will be of interest to evolutionary and developmental biologists working on insect wing evolution and the evolution of patterning more generally.

eLife Assessment

This valuable study reports a series of artificial-selection experiments for microbiomes associated with improved drought performance in rice. A major strength is the solid experimental design using multiple starting soil communities, which can guide others in designing related experiments. While interpretation of the results is constrained by inadvertent microbial dispersal between samples, the limited effectiveness of the sterile controls and the absence of healthy well-watered plants, the work nevertheless provides a helpful proof of concept for host-mediated microbiome selection, identifying candidate taxa, functions and simplified communities for downstream study. As a first step towards microbiome engineering in this area, it will be of particular interest to colleagues working in plant-microbiome interactions, microbial community selection and microbiome design.

eLife Assessment

This valuable study explores the sequence characteristics and conservation of high-occupancy target loci, regions in the human genome such as promoters and enhancers that are bound by a multitude of transcription factors. The computational analyses presented in this study are solid. This study would be a helpful resource for researchers performing ChIP-seq based analyses of transcription factor binding.

eLife assessment

This useful paper explores a mathematical model of subsecond time perception, testing potential neural mechanisms behind the linear psychophysical law, Weber's law, and dopaminergic modulation of subjective durations. The model employed readout units to decode an interval. Nevertheless, the work is incomplete and presented as data-driven, but there is no analysis of empirical data.

eLife assessment

This important work identifies a p. aeruginosa strain and enzyme that can degrade 1-naphthylamine, a harmful industrial pollutant. Data resulting from in vivo and structural approaches are compelling, but additional mutagenesis would further test and establish the broad substrate specificity of NpaA1. With this additional data, this paper would be of high interest to biologists and enzymologists studying biodegradation of industrial pollutants.