Evaluated articles

eLife Assessment

This paper demonstrates that relocating the MreB-Rod complex to the poles of E. coli can reprogram cell-wall synthesis, causing cells to elongate through peptidoglycan incorporation at the poles rather than along the cell length. This is a valuable finding for understanding how bacterial growth can be spatially reprogrammed and provides insight into how distinct modes of bacterial growth might arise. However, the evidence is currently incomplete, particularly regarding the nature of the polar structures, their relationship to cell shape and growth, and the requirement for a pre-existing pole.

eLife Assessment

This study modeled vocal learning in zebra finches with a network of three components: a pathway with delayed/slow Hebbian learning that mimics the HVC-RA projection, a pathway with reinforcement learning that mimics the HVC-BG-RA projection, and a motor unit that mimics the syrinx and produces song output. The model convincingly reproduces key features of song learning and is a valuable step towards understanding how vocal learning is substantiated in the song system. The generic and simplified nature of the model limits its generalization to other forms of motor learning. Further examination of model assumptions and presentation of testable predictions would increase the impact of the study.

eLife Assessment

This study presents a useful alternate labeling-based approach to identify or profile bioenergetic changes between cells. Overall, the approaches and data are solid, but have limitations in interpretation and so are as yet incomplete. The method itself can be of interest to a variety of biochemists, cell and systems-biologists interested in quantitative cellular metabolism.

eLife Assessment

This study presents an important investigation of how inhibition of the WNK-SPAK/OSR1 pathway influences neuronal chloride homeostasis and seizure-like activity in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures. The evidence supporting the principal mechanistic conclusions is solid, although the proposed regulation of chloride transporters is inferred rather than directly demonstrated in this model. The work will be of interest to researchers studying chloride homeostasis, inhibitory neurotransmission, and epilepsy.

eLife Assessment

This is a valuable study that contributes to our understanding of transcriptomic responses in microglia to HIV infection in the human brain. The evidence provided remains incomplete, and further analyses are required (i.e., a bigger sample size) to eliminate confounding factors so that the study can unequivocally ascertain the persistent inflammatory state of microglia in HIV-suppressed brains.

eLife Assessment

This valuable pharmacological MEG study implicates GABA-A receptors in the shaping of intrinsic neuronal timescales in the human brain. While the authors provide solid evidence for the claims that (i) GABAergic neuronal inhibition prolongs timescales in specific cortical networks and (ii) NMDA receptor manipulations have no detectable effect, the manuscript could be further strengthened by resolving some apparent discrepancies in the results as well as additional validation of the network analysis used. This work will be of interest for experimental and theoretical neuroscientists studying brain-wide network dynamics and the large-scale organization of neurotransmitter systems.

eLife Assessment

This valuable study combines free-flight kinematics, aerodynamic modeling, optogenetics, and connectomics to ask how Drosophila stabilize roll perturbations during flight. The kinematic and modeling methods are solid, but the evidence for redundant motor control of roll stabilization is incomplete: optogenetic silencing experiments lack a positive control, and no experiment directly tests the central claim that redundant motor pathways drive robust roll control. This work will interest researchers studying insect flight and robust motor control.

eLife Assessment

This important study provides solid evidence that, in an α-synucleinoathy model, brain atrophy and associated functional decline generalize across host genotype and fibril species, while being strongly shaped by the site of seeding and regional vulnerability. With an unusually large longitudinal in vivo MRI dataset combined with behavioural and computational modelling, the study offers a comprehensive characterization of neurodegeneration across multiple biological and experimental conditions. The openly shared imaging dataset and analysis pipeline are an excellent resource, and the scale, longitudinal design, methodological breadth, and openness of the study make it a substantial contribution to the field. This work will be of interest to scientists in synucleinopathy- and network- neurodegeneration communities.

eLife Assessment

This study attempts to predict spatial patterns of genetic diversity among coral reef dwellers, estimated with a computationally efficient, standardized k-mer pipeline, from satellite-derived seascape variables. The curated dataset of 18 coral reef taxa across 173 reefs is valuable, but the evidence for the central ecological claims is in its current form incomplete: pairwise genetic distances are modelled as independent observations, the reef-level random effects used as the response in the environmental analysis likely conflate species composition with environmental signal, and , and the coverage is likely too sparse to robustly support conclusions about loss of inter-and intra-specific within-reef diversity over time. The work will be of interest to conservation geneticists, marine biologists, and researchers developing Earth-observation approaches to biodiversity monitoring.

eLife Assessment

This is a valuable manuscript that leverages information already being collected in mosquito surveillance, but that is currently discarded, building on ideas developed during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The work is rigorous, involving ample data from real-world surveillance, independent laboratory testing, and simulation modeling to validate the inference method. The evidence is solid for demonstrating feasibility and biological plausibility.

eLife Assessment

This study presents a valuable analysis of the TARA oceans dataset, advancing genome- and ecosystem-scale metabolic modeling. The authors present convincing evidence for the factors that shape microbial ecology at the molecular scale. The work will be of broad interest to oceanographers and scientists in other areas where metabolic interactions in diverse communities are of importance.

eLife Assessment

The manuscript presents a compelling application of the microfluidic mother machine as a "selection" machine. While individual elements of the work have existed for many years across various research communities, the simplicity and elegance of this particular application should make it readily implementable and therefore a useful contribution. The proposed plans for revision are sound, particularly in light of the senior author's stated logistical constraints.

[Editors' note: this paper was reviewed by Review Commons.]

eLife Assessment

This study applies a relatively novel method, ABR (Automated Behavioural Response system), to an arboreal small mammal, providing some valuable results on the responses of these small primates to both natural predators and human stimuli. However, the study in its current form is incomplete in its framing and methodology and could be improved to appeal more broadly to behavioural biologists.

eLife Assessment

This valuable study identifies an upstream repressive region in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae DDI2/3 promoter and shows that chemical stress induced by cyanamide or MMS is accompanied by reduced histone abundance and decreased nucleosome occupancy across the DDI2/3 locus. Genetic histone depletion is sufficient to enhance DDI2/3 expression, while MNase-seq and genetic analyses support a model in which the transcription factor Fzf1 both activates transcription through its established promoter-binding function and promotes chromatin changes that relieve nucleosome-mediated repression, helping to explain the unusually strong induction of DDI2/3 relative to other Fzf1 targets. The study is significant, as it provides a conceptually interesting extension of Fzf1-mediated stress regulation. The strength of the evidence is solid, although additional controls and a more cautious treatment of whether Fzf1 directly drives nucleosome eviction versus acting indirectly through transcriptional recruitment or chromatin-remodeling factors would further strengthen the mechanistic conclusions.

eLife Assessment

This valuable study characterizes the population structure and ancestry of Helicobacter pylori in Cabo Verde. Using a carefully sampled population-based cohort and paired host-bacterial genomic data, the authors identify distinct local lineages but with limited concordance between human and bacterial ancestry. The evidence is solid for the principal findings concerning bacterial diversity, ancestry and recent lineage expansion, while the support for the claim that this reflects host adaptation, enhanced transmission, reduced virulence or a mix thereof is weaker. The work has particular relevance for researchers interested in microbial population genomics, host-pathogen coevolution and the genetic consequences of human migration and admixture.

eLife Assessment

The study addresses a timely problem that is of importance in the cfRNA field, and it provides a potentially valuable resource. The use of a common processing pipeline, publicly available code, and variance-partition analyses are notable strengths. However, several central conclusions, particularly those concerning protocol-level effects, the dominance of technical over biological variation, and the proposed universal QC criteria remain more general than the study design and available data can support. Therefore the evidence is currently incomplete and needs to be improved through the revision process.

eLife Assessment

This study presents a valuable patient-derived human cell platform for investigating LMNA-associated cardiomyopathy and identifies cyproheptadine as a compound that improves abnormal calcium handling across multiple LMNA variants in vitro. The experimental approaches are generally rigorous and establish reproducible disease-associated cellular phenotypes; however, the evidence remains incomplete because the mechanistic basis of the observed rescue is not established, and the translational conclusions substantially exceed the presented data.

eLife Assessment

This important study shows that prenatal alcohol exposure produces lasting changes in amyloid precursor protein processing, including altered APP C-terminal fragments and Notch intracellular domain levels, that persist into adulthood and track with progressive spatial learning and memory deficits, in both wild-type and 3xTg-AD mice. The convincing study was carefully designed and combined biochemical, histological, and behavioral approaches across multiple ages. The work will interest researchers studying fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, Alzheimer's disease risk, and the developmental origins of neurodegeneration. Nonetheless, reviewers identified opportunities to strengthen the conclusions with additional samples and controls.

eLife Assessment

An intriguing set of electrophysiological and analytical results suggests that adult rat neurons in the medulla oblongata crucial for mediating descending pain modulation are embedded in a network that generates a specific pattern of oscillatory activity. These valuable findings may broaden our understanding of how descending pain modulation is achieved. The supporting evidence is incomplete, and the authors need to provide several methodological clarifications and additional data interpretations to strengthen the manuscript.

eLife Assessment

This manuscript examines how overexpression of sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 1 in a mouse model affects neutrophil distribution, metabolism and function. Given the significance of S1PR1 in inflammatory mechanisms, this work is valuable for uncovering novel aspects of S1PR1 signaling in neutrophil dynamics and function. The evidence provided is solid as it integrates single-cell transcriptomics, flow cytometry, and multiple in vivo studies. This work also raises key questions about distinct physiological and pathophysiological roles of S1PR1 signaling in neutrophils that could become therapeutic targets.