Formation of biological condensates through phase separation has emerged as a means of discrete subcellular organization permitting regulatory precision across diverse processes. We recently found that the conserved mitotic spindle positioning complex of Mushroom body defect (Mud) and Partner of Inscuteable (Pins) phase separates into condensates with dynamic, liquid-like properties. While the Mud/Pins complex functions […]
Social immunity as a driver of life-history evolution in eusocial species
Eusociality is accompanied by puzzling lifespan phenotypes that challenge classic theories of aging. In eusocial species, breeders age more slowly than non-breeders while sharing the same genomes. A notable exception is the naked mole-rat, in which all castes show negligible actuarial senescence. We explain both patterns with a single epidemiological model. Chronic parasites that reduce […]
Lipoengineering of Biomolecular Condensates Controls Material Properties and Multiphase Hierarchy to Guide Organoid Morphogenesis
Cells use post-translational modifications (PTMs) to reconfigure biomolecular condensates across length scales, space, and time. While charged PTMs are well-known electrostatic switches, how ubiquitous neutral PTMs shape condensate plasticity and hierarchy remains unclear. Here, we establish a set of design principles for using site-specific lipidation, a class of neutral hydrophobic PTMs, to rationally control properties […]
DIANA: Deep Learning Identification and Assessment of Ancient DNA
The field of ancient metagenomics provides insights into past microbiomes, but with a growing dataset size, methods that rely on reference databases have limited scope. Here, we introduce DIANA, a multi-task neural network that predicts key metadata categories from unitig abundances. Trained on 2,597 run accessions (1.72~Tbp of assembled unitig sequences), DIANA accurately identifies sample […]
Sex-specific plasticity mechanisms mediating fear extinction
There is strong evidence that synaptic plasticity is a critical cellular mechanism underlying learning and memory. Although the forms of synaptic plasticity used by different circuits and cell types vary, a widespread presumption is that the male and female brain has evolved to use the same form of plasticity within the same circuits during performance […]
In-situ Target Base Editing Combining with Biosensor-driven Strategy Reveals Critical Single Nucleotide Variants for Enhanced Recombinant Protein Secretion in Pichia pastoris
The disparity between the production and demand of recombinant proteins (r-proteins) has significantly hindered their commercial viability. Leveraging genomic resources offers substantial promise in enhancing our comprehension of metabolic and regulatory networks, thus facilitating the development of highly productive protein cell factories. However, the considerable gap between high-throughput strategies for monitoring r-protein secretion and genome […]
Existence and Localization of a Limit Cycle in a Class of Benchmark Biomolecular Oscillators
Oscillatory behaviour is important in multiple biological contexts. However, the inherent nonlinearity and high dimensionality of mathematical models in biology makes proving the existence and the localization of limit cycle oscillations challenging. Here, we provided an elementary proof for the existence and a method for rigorously localizing the oscillatory solutions in a class of benchmark […]
Cognitive Vergence and Pupil Response During Oddball Task are Associated With Alzheimers Disease Cerebrospinal Fluid Neurodegenerative Biomarkers
Background: Alzheimers disease (AD) can be diagnosed using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers reflecting amyloid and tau pathology. However, it provides no information about functional network status. We aimed to determine whether CSF biomarkers (AB 42, p-Tau, t-Tau, and AB 42/p-Tau ratio) are associated with altered stimulus differentiation in vergence and pupil responses during an oddball […]
Effects of hypoxia and low temperature on female physiology and reproduction of Drosophila melanogaster
Because hypoxia and low temperature independently alter metabolism and reproductive investment, their interaction provides a tractable framework for testing whether combined stressors produce non-additive physiological and reproductive effects. Here, we investigated the single and combined effects of hypoxia and low temperature in Drosophila melanogaster across multiple genetic backgrounds. We quantified metabolic rate, thermal tolerance, body […]
Transcriptomic insights into triploid seed failure in Arabidopsis arenosa natural populations
Polyploidy is a key evolutionary force in plants; among its many consequences, hybridization between diploids and polyploids is restricted due to the "triploid block". While the molecular mechanisms of this postzygotic barrier are extensively studied in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana, our understanding of the triploid block in natural systems remains limited. Here, we investigated […]
Evolutionary branching of male emergence timing: Trade-offs and variance asymmetry as drivers of dimorphism.
Classical models of protandry predict unimodal male emergence timing, yet empirical observations in butterflies and bees reveal dimorphism: early-emerging small males coexist with late-emerging large males. The evolutionary mechanisms underlying such discrete alternative reproductive strategies in emergence timing remain poorly understood. In this study, we developed a mathematical model using an adaptive dynamics framework to […]
Proton tunneling at the ryanodine receptor Ca2+ activation site provides temperature-invariant noise for robust Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release
Ryanodine receptor (RyR)-mediated calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) is a regenerative trigger-to-release mechanism used in diverse cell types. RyRs amplify small calcium signals into large, localized surges that drive autonomous oscillation, excitation-contraction coupling, pulsatile secretion, neurotransmitter release, or memory formation. Robust RyR function depends on the probability of RyR recruitment remaining within an operating range as […]