Evaluated articles

eLife assessment

This study uses single cell sequencing to characterize transcriptional profiles of cells in a brain region called the PVT that plays many roles in brain function. The authors combine these data with dataset of neuronal connectivity and conclude there are transcriptomically distinguishable populations of neurons in the PVT with different function. These data deepen our understanding of an important brain region.

eLife assessment

This important study of mouse genetic variation in atrial septum formation, a trait correlated with the patent foramen ovale (PFO) cardiac defect, provides convincing evidence for 37 quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting this trait, combining genetic mapping with transcriptome analysis to zero in on relevant pathways and candidate genes within the QTL, and validating the role of one gene in tissue culture. The paper provides an important resource for hypothesis generation and future studies, which could lead to novel diagnostic or therapeutic approaches that target atrial septal defects in common congenital heart disease.

eLife assessment

In this study, neurons were recorded and combined across the parahippocampal area while rats performed a memory-guided spatial navigation task. Sophisticated analytical tools were used to provide convincing evidence that neuronal populations in these areas show behavior-related changes that might indicate the encoding of errors by the system. The valuable results suggest that rate remapping is a likely mechanism to support changes in representations that support memory-guided behavior in these regions, most interestingly in neurons that code head direction.

eLife assessment

This important paper advances our understanding of the role of lipid peroxidation in loss of muscle mass and force-generating capacity during aging and hind-limb suspension. The evidence is in general solid, drawing from experiments in vivo and cell culture using multiple types of manipulations of the formation of lipid peroxides although some weaknesses were identified. The results should be of interest to those who study the molecular basis for sarcopenia and disuse atrophy of skeletal muscle.

eLife assessment

In this manuscript, the authors investigate the role of histone deacetylases in the spatial epigenetic control of zygotic gene expression in early gastrulation. They discover HDAC1 binding is maternally-controlled and that inhibition of histone acetylation blocks gastrulation and disrupts cell lineage integrity, tied to both positive and negative regulatory effects on gene transcription in space and time. The study contributes to a growing body of evidence that highlights a central role of histone acetylation-deacetylation dynamics in epigenetic regulation of gene expression and cell fating in early tissue patterning of the embryo.

eLife assessment:

This study provides valuable insight into the molecular mechanism of ion selectivity in the broader family of ATP-gated P2X receptors. The experimental data are of high quality, the evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing, and the work will be of broad interest to biophysicists working on ion channel selectivity.

eLife assessment

This important study aimed to identify rhythms linked to primary symptoms of Parkinson's disease such as involuntary shaking of the limbs and slowness. The evidence supporting the conclusions is solid, although validating their behavioural measures and considering the relationship between signatures from different brain regions would have strengthened the study. The work will be of broad interest to movement control, movement disorders, and brain stimulation fields.

eLife assessment

When a neuron is born it correlates with where it targets in the neuropil and this has been best demonstrated in the olfactory lobe of Drosophila. This important study uses sophisticated genetics and advanced live imaging to provide a compelling description of how neuronal dendrites explore the targeting field, eliminate excessive branches, and assort into the correct region during development. In the process, it develops valuable tools. It brings us closer to a comprehensive understanding of how the birth order of a neuron translates to dendrite patterning within the Drosophila antennal lobe circuit

eLife assessment

Black et al., provide evidence that levels of Paternally Expressed Gene 10 (PEG10) protein are regulated by Ubqln2 and that proteolytic fragments from PEG10 cleavage induce changes in gene expression, in particular genes that encode proteins involved in axon biology. Based on these data and the finding of an increase in PEG10 levels and alterations of proteins regulated by PEG10 in the spinal cord of ALS patients, they propose that abnormal induction of PEG10-regulated genes is involved in ALS. However, the evidence for these claims and PEG10 involvement could be strengthened, and the rigor of the work could be enhanced in places.

eLife assessment

This important study provides a provocative potential challenge to explain sensitivity across the visual field by using cortical magnification factors. The evidence supporting this theoretical challenge is solid in general, although the inclusion of subject-specific measurements of cortical magnification factors would have strengthened the study. The work will be of interest to vision researchers of both basic and medical science.

eLife assessment

This valuable study by Pasquereau and Turner examined the activity neurons in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) while monkeys performed a task in which they had to withhold their response during a delay period whose length was defined by a specific cue. The results indicate that the activity of STN neurons was modulated by reward size and delay. The results are potentially important for understanding how STN regulates behavior such as self-control, but the reviewers thought that the study is incomplete as the analyses, at least in the presented forms, have some potential problems and some analyses require clarification.

eLife assessment

This manuscript reports important findings regarding the evolution of snake venom proteins. The conclusions are convincing and are based on appropriate and validated methodology in line with the current state-of-the-art. The findings will be of interest to biologists and biochemists interested in the evolution of venoms as well as those generally interested in the evolution of molecular novelties.

eLife assessment

In this potentially important study, Mahbub and colleagues examine how the small GTPase ARL15 regulates ion transport. Using a complementary array of techniques, the authors gathered solid evidence for the binding of ARL15 to CNNM proteins, resulting in a proposal how this may affect the function of the TRPM7 channel. Additional experiments are required to fully substantiate the claims.

eLife assessment

These authors provide compelling evidence that gestational intermittent hypoxia, a component of sleep apnea during pregnancy, increases inflammation in the spinal cords of male mice. Increased inflammation is robustly linked to deficits in respiratory plasticity both biochemically and via functional depletion assays. These data are important given the fact that male infants have worse outcomes in the NICU and are at higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

eLife assessment

Brodbeck et al. offer a timely and important contribution to how neural signals in response to continuous temporal modulations (as seen in speech and language processing) can be modelled effectively using temporal response functions. They offer a convincing new approach that includes a novel application of a boosting algorithm in addition to an accessible and didactically useful toolbox for analysis. With further comparison to existing toolboxes, or a more extensive comparison of boosting and ridge regression via simulation, this work will have a compelling impact on methods in speech and language neuroscience, as well as in cognitive neuroscience more broadly.

eLife assessment:

This important study advances our understanding of host-derived lipid droplets' interaction with intracellular pathogens. The use of amoeba species Dictyostelium discoideum as a host for Legionella pneumophila infection is compelling and goes beyond the current state of the art, but the strength of evidence is incomplete, and the main claims are only partially supported by the data. With the experimental part strengthened, this paper would be of interest to cell biologists and microbiologists working on the interaction of microbes with host cells.

eLife assessment

This useful work describes the establishment and characterization of new cell lines derived from specific tissues of the fruit fly Drosophila. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid, although the characterization of the cell lines is incomplete and the genomic findings are not presented in a user-friendly manner. These lines could be a useful resource that complements in vivo Drosophila genetics, improving biochemistry and facilitating high-throughput screening.

eLife assessment

This important study examines the association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and close contact among household members, measured using proximity sensors deployed after the first case was identified in the household. The authors provide solid evidence that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 within households is not dependent upon close contact, but the study suffers from a number of limitations that are fully acknowledged.

eLife assessment

Regulation of gene expression in many biological systems occurs either through a binary mode where gene expression is either on or off (digital regulation), or through an analog mode leading to a graded modulation of gene expression. In this manuscript, the authors report how these two regulatory modes are integrated into a one-way switch pattern to control the expression of the Arabidopsis floral repressor gene FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC). They suggest that an analog regulation in the autonomous pathway precedes a digital regulation conferred by Polycomb silencing before cold exposure, and this temporal switch correlates with the strength of transcription at the FLC locus in different genetic backgrounds.

eLife assessment

This study combines different approaches to unravel the genetic basis of a pigmentation polymorphism in natural populations of a fascinating study system with well-studied ecology. The paper has the potential to be of general interest to biologists curious about the genetic basis of adaptive variation, which is especially relevant to evolutionary biologists and ecologists. The study reports substantial data and makes a strong case for the contribution of a duplication-derived gene acquiring a morph-specific function. Further information is required to implicate valkea in pigmentation morph formation and for diagnosing the duplicated segment as a supergene (associated with low recombination).