Article
Environmental Sciences
Nishanth Kuchi, Lidita Khandeparker, Arga Chandrashekar Anil
Summary: This study investigated the bacterial diversity at two geographically distant ports during different seasons. Results showed that bacteria with hydrocarbon degrading ability were present in both marine and riverine ports during the monsoon season, while an increase in benthic bacterial OTUs was evident at the marine port during the non-monsoon season. The presence of ecologically relevant bacteria in port environments could be indicators of prevailing environmental conditions and anthropogenic influence.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Henry H. Mattingly, Thierry Emonet
Summary: The study found that differential loss of phenotypes caused by collective behaviors varies in different environments, promoting migration through multiple environments. With cell growth, phenotype differences allow migrating populations to dynamically adapt to different environments. The specific phenotypes produced upon cell division are related to the level of nongenetic inheritance.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Suman G. Das, Joachim Krug, Muhittin Mungan
Summary: The biological evolution of a population is controlled by the fitness landscape. Evolution in changing environments resembles the athermal dynamics of disordered physical systems. By studying a model of antibiotic resistance evolution in bacteria, it is found that adaptive evolution also exhibits hysteresis loops and memory formation. The research provides a general framework for studying the evolutionary dynamics of biological systems in a changing environment.
Review
Plant Sciences
Kanjana Laosuntisuk, Estefania Elorriaga, Colleen J. Doherty
Summary: Recurring patterns are essential for life on Earth, and plants have developed systems to coordinate with these patterns. The plant circadian clock plays a crucial role in this coordination, but our understanding is limited to a few species in controlled environments. This review explores the circadian clock in diverse plant species, the challenges of extrapolating data, and the importance of anticipating plant responses to climate change.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF PLANT BIOLOGY
(2023)
Editorial Material
Biology
Marina Rafajlovic, Jake M. Alexander, Roger K. Butlin, Kerstin Johannesson
Summary: Understanding species' range modifications is crucial for predicting the impact of environmental changes on biodiversity. Different species may respond differently to the same environmental changes, and changes in species' ranges create feedbacks to the environment, populations, and communities. Understanding these links is essential for biodiversity management and conservation efforts.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Arbel Harpak, Molly Przeworski
Summary: The evolution of complex traits in humans is influenced by selection pressures that are largely unknown, and the discussion around group differences in traits focuses on whether they are genetically based or influenced by environmental factors. One plausible alternative suggests that many complex traits evolve under stabilizing selection, even when faced with shifting environmental effects, which challenges the assumption that trait differences among groups are solely due to genetic factors.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Dung My Thi Dang, Majid Monajjemi, Fatemeh Mollaamin, Chien Mau Dang
Summary: Biological symmetry breaking is crucial for human survival and relies on chemical physics concepts at both microscopic and macroscopic scales. This study presents various mechanisms of signaling phenomena in human tissues and demonstrates how anatomical asymmetry in membrane structure generates extracellular fluid flow. Membrane asymmetry, resulting from imbalances in aqueous composition and protein trans-membrane interactions, leads to considerable electrostatic voltages in biological membranes. Modelling DPPC, DMPC, and DLPC lipid bilayers with charge misbalances, the study shows that asymmetric membranes create voltage differences across different aqueous tissues. Furthermore, asymmetrical phospholipid bilayers result in quantum effects in small parts of the cell's thickness.
Article
Biology
Ebrahim Lari, Leslie T. Buck
Summary: The study reveals that a decrease in temperature leads to a reduction in membrane potential, action potential width and amplitude, and whole-cell conductance of pyramidal neurons in painted turtle cerebral cortex. Exposure to severe hypoxia slightly depolarizes membrane potential, but does not affect action potential amplitude or width and whole-cell conductance. Temperature acclimation induces cellular responses in pyramidal neurons that enhance survival under low oxygen concentrations before severe environmental hypoxia.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Monika Rojewska, Wojciech Smulek, Ewa Kaczorek, Krystyna Prochaska
Summary: The widespread presence of antibiotics in the environment has caused various issues that negatively impact the world of bacteria. Understanding the interaction mechanism of antibiotics with bacterial membranes is crucial for addressing these problems.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Julia Kleetz, Georgios Vasilopoulos, Simon Czolkoss, Meriyem Aktas, Franz Narberhaus
Summary: Escherichia coli is a common model bacterium with a membrane composition that can be readily tailored to include non-native lipids such as phosphatidylcholine (PC) for biotechnology applications.
APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Shiladitya Banerjee, Klevin Lo, Nikola Ojkic, Roisin Stephens, Norbert F. Scherer, Aaron R. Dinner
Summary: Cells must strike a balance between conserving resources for survival and utilizing resources for growth and division in order to maximize their fitness. This study combines single-cell experiments and theoretical modeling to propose a mechanism for antibiotic adaptation through mechanical feedback between cell growth and morphology. The increase in cell width and curvature promotes faster growth under protein synthesis inhibition, making bacteria more adaptive to surviving antibiotics.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sudatta Ray, Hemant K. Pullabhotla
Summary: Rural electrification policies in developing countries often prioritize household power, which negatively impacts agricultural development. The shift in India's rural electrification focus towards household electrification has resulted in a decrease in electrified groundwater irrigation, hindering agricultural growth.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Review
Environmental Studies
Md Roushon Jamal, Paul Kristiansen, Md Jahangir Kabir, Lisa Lobry de Bruyn
Summary: This review paper examines the status, challenges, and adaptation opportunities of rice systems in Bangladesh in the face of climate and environmental changes. The paper highlights the agronomic and environmental challenges posed by rising temperatures, irregular rainfall patterns, extreme weather, and increasing salinisation. The farmers are adapting through strategies such as efficient irrigation, stress-tolerant cultivars, mechanisation, and income diversification, but broader support from the government and agribusiness is needed for profitable and sustainable adaptation.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jianguo Guo, Yi Xiong, Taisheng Kang, Hua Zhu, Qiwen Yang, Chuan Qin
Summary: This study investigated the impact of different formaldehyde levels on indoor bacterial communities. The results showed significant differences in bacterial community structure and function at different formaldehyde levels. Long-term exposure to high concentrations of formaldehyde may lead to greater health risks to human beings.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Xin Xu, Lixin Zhang, Xiaoning Cao, Lifeng Liu, Bingjun Jiang, Chunlei Zhang, Hongchang Jia, Xiangguang Lyu, Yumei Su, Yupeng Cai, Luping Liu, Shengrui Zhang, Fulu Chen, Cunxiang Wu, Bin Liu, Wensheng Hou, Shi Sun, Jinsheng Lai, Tianfu Han
Summary: Soybean, a short-day plant, utilizes cotyledons to accelerate flowering by perceiving photoperiod and upregulating the flowering promoting gene GmFT2a. Cotyledons can support the entire life cycle and play a substantial role in the flowering process, proposing a new 'cotyledon-based self-reliance' model for rapid flowering in soybeans and other dicots grown in long-day environments at high latitudes.
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2021)