Article
Oncology
Chee Wai Chua, Marianna Kruithof-de Julio
Summary: In this article, we have invited 25 researchers or clinicians from the prostate cancer community to review the cutting-edge topics in this field. The mini-reviews have covered various basic science and clinical aspects in prostate cancer, including prostate epithelial stem cells or progenitors, androgen and androgen receptor pathways, tumor modeling, genomics, different cell-autonomous and non-cell-autonomous mechanisms, as well as various clinical issues encompassing diagnosis, risk stratification, and treatments.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Nhan Ly-Trong, Suha Naser-Khdour, Robert Lanfear, Bui Quang Minh
Summary: Sequence simulators are important in phylogenetics for evaluating methods, hypothesis testing, and generating data. AliSim is a new tool that efficiently simulates biologically realistic alignments, outperforming popular software in terms of speed and efficiency.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Michael Borg, Stacy A. Krueger-Hadfield, Christophe Destombe, Jonas Collen, Agnieszka Lipinska, Susana M. Coelho
Summary: Rhodophyta (or red algae) are a diverse group with small intron-poor genomes, a lack of motility-related cytoskeletal structures, and a highly efficient photosynthetic capacity. Despite their ecological, evolutionary, and commercial importance, red macroalgae have been understudied. With the increasing availability of red algal genome sequences, this overview anticipates that research in various domains of red algal biology will be accelerated in the future.
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Daniel Gianola, Rohan L. L. Fernando, Chris C. C. Schoen
Summary: This paper revisits inference in quantitative genetics when using samples stemming from some selection process and proposes a fully Bayesian approach that integrates the notion of fitness with that of missing data. The paper highlights the connection between probability of missingness and the concept of fitness in stylized selection scenarios. While there is no general solution to accommodate distortions due to selection, the Bayesian approach provides an integrated answer to inference, prediction, and model choice. The quality of predictions can be evaluated empirically through appropriate training-testing.
GENETICS SELECTION EVOLUTION
(2022)
Review
Immunology
Camus Nimmo, James Millard, Valwynne Faulkner, Johana Monteserin, Hannah Pugh, Eachan Oliver Johnson
Summary: Mycobacterium tuberculosis has developed drug resistance to all drugs used against it, and this resistance can spread rapidly amongst bacterial populations. Resistance-conferring mutations often come with a fitness cost, but compensatory mutations can restore fitness. The acquisition of drug resistance occurs through low-frequency within-host variation and ongoing purifying selection. It is important to understand the implications of resistance evolution as countries adopt genomic methods for diagnosis and drug resistance testing.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Parasitology
Stephen R. Doyle
Summary: The rapid advancement in high-throughput sequencing and analytical approaches has led to a steady increase in genomic resources for helminth parasites. These resources are crucial for understanding genetic and transcriptomic variation in helminths, but there is a need for continued improvement post-publication to ensure accuracy and completeness in studying these important pathogens.
TRENDS IN PARASITOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Genetics & Heredity
Xiaojun Zhang, Jianhai Xiang, Jianbo Yuan, Fuhua Li
Summary: Chromosome studies are crucial in understanding the inheritance and evolution of penaeid shrimps. The advancements in genome research, particularly the sequencing technology, have greatly contributed to the progress in shrimp chromosome research. The availability of genome sequences and the exploration of submicroscopic changes have ushered shrimp chromosome research into the post-genomic era.
Review
Plant Sciences
Li Guo, Hui Yao, Weikai Chen, Xumei Wang, Peng Ye, Zhichao Xu, Sisheng Zhang, Hong Wu
Summary: Medicinal plant natural products (PNPs) are important substances in traditional and modern medicine. With the global challenge of emerging infectious diseases, antibiotic resistance, and high drug prices, it is urgent to harness the healing power of medicinal plants. Systemic biology approaches are necessary to accelerate the research on biosynthesis of PNPs in medicinal plants.
HORTICULTURE RESEARCH
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yuehan Yang, Mara Grace C. Kessler, Maria Raquel Marchan-Rivadeneira, Yong Han
Summary: Constantly evolving drug-resistant superbugs have created a pressing need for new antimicrobial agents. Advances in technology, such as genome mining and bioinformatic algorithms, have revitalized natural product research and allowed for more targeted discovery of potential antimicrobial candidates. Synthetic biology and advanced analytical instruments also enable the rapid identification of novel antibiotics with distinct structures. This review highlights noteworthy examples of antimicrobial agents discovered through various methodologies and emphasizes their potent effectiveness against antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.
Article
Agronomy
Xinpeng Qi, Bingjun Jiang, Tingting Wu, Shi Sun, Caijie Wang, Wenwen Song, Cunxiang Wu, Wensheng Hou, Qijian Song, Hon-Ming Lam, Tianfu Han
Summary: This study re-sequenced 134 soybean cultivars widely planted in China over the past century, revealing two geographically distinct sub-populations: Northeast China and Huang-Huai-Hai River Valley/ South China. The South China sub-population exhibited higher genetic diversity and faster linkage disequilibrium decay compared to the Northeast China sub-population, reflecting the impact of geographical origins.
Review
Energy & Fuels
Shan Wang, Dandan Cui, Weichang Hao, Yi Du
Summary: This review summarizes recent important works on coupling a cocatalyst with BiVO4 photoanodes for PEC water splitting reactions, and presents the foremost challenges and motivating prospects for future research on coupling cocatalysts with BiVO4 photoanodes materials.
Review
Biology
Giuseppe Grande, Andrea Graziani, Luca De Toni, Andrea Garolla, Domenico Milardi, Alberto Ferlin
Summary: This article evaluates the application of proteomics and metabolomics in male hypogonadism, providing insights into their potential as post-genomic platforms. Various studies and analyses have revealed novel biomarkers for androgen activity and shed light on the pathophysiological function of testosterone using these platforms.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Weiwen Wang, James Barbetti, Thomas Wong, Bryan Thornlow, Russ Corbett-Detig, Yatish Turakhia, Robert Lanfear, Bui Quang Minh
Summary: DecentTree is a highly optimized and parallel implementation of the Neighbour-Joining phylogenetic inference method, which shows similar or improved performance compared to existing software, especially for handling very large sequence alignments.
Review
Neurosciences
Rotem Shalita, Ido Amit
Summary: Understanding the complex interactions between the brain and immune systems is crucial for health and neurodegenerative disease. Single-cell multiomics approaches can provide insights into these interactions and drive research and drug development in neuroimmunology.
Editorial Material
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Barbara B. Lockee
Summary: The coronavirus pandemic has rapidly pushed the education sector towards online learning, potentially causing a permanent shift in the way education is delivered.
NATURE ELECTRONICS
(2021)