Evaluated articles

eLife Assessment

This useful manuscript reports mechanisms behind the increase in fecundity in response to sub-lethal doses of pesticides in the crop pest, the brown plant hopper. The authors hypothesize that the pesticide works by inducing the JH titer, which through the JH signaling pathway induces egg development, for which the evidence was judged to be solid.

eLife assessment:

This valuable manuscript provides solid methodologies for utilizing SMALP nanodisks for oligomer characterization. The authors present a platform for capturing and studying native membrane protein oligomerization and subsequent cryoEM analysis. The specific application of the method to WbaP, a membrane-bound phosphoglycosyl transferase, adds to our understanding of glycoconjugate production in bacteria. This manuscript would be of interest to those focusing on native membrane protein studies and antimicrobial resistance.

eLife assessment

This study presents a valuable finding on the cell composition in mouse spleen depleted for the CD47 receptor and its signaling ligand Thrombospondin in hematopoietic differentiation. The supporting evidence is convincing with analytical improvements on the individual contributions of the signaling components and with functional studies. This work has implications for the role of CD47/Thsp in extramedullary erythropoiesis in mouse spleen and will be of interest to medical biologists working on cell signaling, transfusion medicine, and cell therapy.

eLife Assessment

By combining Synthetic Genetic Array (SGA) analysis with state-of-the-art imaging techniques, this study provides strong evidence that sphingolipid metabolism controls the maturation of Parkinson's disease-associated Synphilin-1 inclusion bodies (SY1 IBs) on the mitochondrial surface in a yeast model. The authors present compelling proof that perturbing the sphingolipid metabolic pathway leads to delayed SY1 IB maturation and enhanced SY1-triggered toxicity. Altogether, the authors show the important role of sphingolipid metabolism in the detoxification process of misfolded proteins by facilitating large IB formation on the mitochondrial outer membrane.

eLife Assessment

This valuable work suggests a new physical model of centrosome maturation: a catalytic growth model with a shared enzyme pool. The authors provide compelling evidence to show that the model is able to reproduce various experimental results such as centrosome size scaling with cell size and centrosome growth curves in C. elegans, and that the final centrosome size is more robust to differences in initial centrosome size. While direct experimental support for this theory is currently lacking, the authors propose concrete experiments that could distinguish their shared-enzyme model from previously proposed alternatives.

eLife assessment

This fundamental work proposes a novel mechanism for memory consolidation where short-term memory provides a gating signal for memories to be consolidated into long-term storage. The work combines extensive analytical and numerical work applied to three different scenarios and provides a convincing analysis of the benefits of the proposed model, although some of the analyses are limited to the type of memory consolidation the authors consider (and don't consider), which limits the impact. The work will be of interest to neuroscientists and many other researchers interested in the mechanistic underpinnings of memory.

eLife assessment

This valuable paper characterizes a murine model for congenital cystic airway abnormalities (CPAM). In contrast to previous assumptions that only epithelial cells are involved in the formation of pulmonary cysts, the authors provide compelling new evidence that defective BMP signaling in lung mesenchymal cells can disrupt airway development. Knowing that proper BMP signaling in mesenchymal cells is required for normal cyst-free lungs could potentially pave the way to understanding and preventing CPAM in infants at risk for this common disorder, which can be fatal if untreated. The relevance of the murine model could be enhanced by further molecular and histological comparison with human cysts.

eLife assessment

This valuable study identifies an uncharacterized yeast gene regulating chronological lifespan in a mitochondrial-dependent pathway. The approach to identify and characterise this new gene is appealing, but the evidence in support of some of the major conclusions is incomplete. The paper focuses on chronological lifespan and mitochondrial function, and it will be of interest to yeast biologists working in metabolism and aging.

eLife assessment

This is a valuable contribution to our understanding of how different cell stressors (ethanol or heat-shock) elicit unique responses at the genomic and topographical level under the regulation of yeast transcription factor Hsf1, providing solid evidence documenting the temporal coupling (or lack thereof) between Hsf1 aggregation and long-range communication among co-regulated heat-shock loci versus chromatin remodeling and transcriptional activation. A particular strength is the combination of genomic and imaging-based experimental approaches applied to genetically engineered in vivo systems.

eLife assessment

This important study identifies the role of Caveolin1 and Cavin1 as regulators of TransEndothelial Macroaperture (TEM). The methodology used is rigorous and compelling, and further research can point to more mechanistic understanding of the process.

eLife assessment

This study provides useful information on the function of a ciliary and flagellar-associated protein, CFAP52, in the assembly of sperm head-tail connecting apparatus (HTCA) and tail formation in humans and mice. The significance is to identify CFAP52 as a genetic factor for asthenoteratozoospermia with a mixed acephalic spermatozoa syndrome (ASS) and multiple morphological abnormalities of the sperm flagella (MMAF) phenotype. The strength of the study is that the experimental evidence using CFAP52 loss-of-function in mice is solid to support that CFAP52 is essential for sperm motility and male fertility by contributing to HTCA and 9+2 axoneme, corroborating the sperm phenotypes of human patients with compound heterozygous mutations in CFAP52.

eLife assessment

This important study presents findings regarding the role of Juvenile Hormone in development and cell differentiation in the ametabolous insect Thermobia domestica, providing an in-depth analysis of JH's roles in a member of this basally branching group. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is convincing, drawing on a broad range of approaches and variety of experimental techniques. While the interpretation of this work in the wider context - its relevance for the evolution of metamorphosis - is in some places somewhat speculative, the work will be of interest to evolutionary developmental biologists studying the evolution of metamorphosis, and the evolution of insects in general.

eLife assessment

This important paper compares cross-species cortical folding patterns in human and non-human primates, showing that most gyral peaks shared across species are in lower-order cortical regions. The supporting evidence is solid and multi-faceted, encompassing anatomy, connectivity and gene expression. This paper will be of interest to a broad readership within the neuroscience community, especially for those interested in cross-species correspondences in brain organisation.

eLife assessment

This current revision builds on observations in validated conditional double KO (cDKO) mice for LRRK1 and LRRK2 that will be useful for the field, given that LRRK2 is widely expressed in the brain and periphery, and many divergent phenotypes have been attributed previously to LRRK2 expression. The manuscript presents solid data demonstrating that it is the loss of LRRK1 and LRRK2 expression within the SNpc DA cells that is not well tolerated, as it was previously unclear from past work whether neurodegeneration in the LRRK double Knock Out (DKO) was cell autonomous or the result of loss of LRRK1/LRRK2 expression in other types of cells. Future studies may pursue the biochemical mechanisms underlying the reason for the apoptotic cells noted in this study, as here, the LRRK1/LRRK2 KO mice did not replicate the dramatic increase in autophagic vacuole numbers previously noted in the germline global LRRK1/LRRK2 KO mice.

eLife assessment

These important findings stand out from other similar studies via some convincing demonstration of behavioural and neural relationships between two helping tasks – one focusing more on social perception, one more on its influence on social behaviour – that were performed more than 300 days apart. The claims however would be stronger with a larger sample size.

eLife assessment

This study presents valuable insights into the evolution of the gasdermin family, making a strong case that a GSDMA-like gasdermin activated by caspase-1 cleavage was already present in early land vertebrates. Convincing biochemical evidence is provided that extant avian, reptilian, and amphibian GSDMA proteins can still be activated by caspase-1 and upon cleavage induce pyroptosis-like cell death -- at least that they do so in the context of human cell lines. The caspase-1 cleavage site has only been lost in mammals, which use the more recently evolved GSDMD as a caspase-1 cleavable pyroptosis inducer. The presented work will be of considerable interest to scientists working on the evolution of cell death pathways, or on cell death regulation in non-mammalian vertebrates.

eLife assessment

This important study defined the physiological function of a conserved meiosis factor during murine spermatogenesis. The genetic and cellular biological evidence supporting the conclusion is convincing. This work will be of broad interest to cell biologists, geneticists, and reproductive biologists.

eLife assessment

This study presents two valuable new mouse models that individually tag proteins from the SMAD family to identify distinct roles during early pregnancy. Convincing evidence is provided that SMAD1 and SMAD5 target many of the same genomic regions as each other and the progesterone receptor. Given the broad effect of these signaling pathways in multiple systems, these new tools will most likely interest readers across biological disciplines.

eLife Assessment

This useful study reports datasets on gene expression and chromatin accessibility profiles of spermatogonia at different postnatal ages in mice. Overall, the technical aspects of the sequencing analyses and computational/bioinformatics are solid. This study may be of interest to biomedical researchers working on male germline stem cells and male fertility.