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Nitrogen fixation on sorghum aerial roots

March 3, 2025

Nitrogen fixation on sorghum aerial roots

Sorghum is an important crop worldwide that develops aerial roots and produces an abundant carbohydrate-rich mucilage after rain, similar to maize. Rafael Venado, Jean-Michel Ané and colleagues show that diazotrophs found in the aerial roots can fix nitrogen, potentially reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers.

Image credit: Rafael Venado

PLOS Biologue

Community blog for PLOS Biology, PLOS Genetics and PLOS Computational Biology.

PLOS BIOLOGUE

03/07/2025

Research Article

Dipeptide transport

Bacterial ABC peptide transporters are involved in important physiological processes, such as nutrient uptake. Panpan Li, Manfeng Zhang and Yihua Huang solve the cryo-EM structures of the E. coli dipeptide transporter DppABCDF in both its apo form and bound to nucleotide analogs, providing insights into its assembly and underlying peptide import mechanism.

Image credit: pbio.3003026

Dipeptide transport

Recently Published Articles

Current Issue

Current Issue February 2025

03/03/2025

Research Article

Balancing cis and trans interactions during neural development

Intercellular interactions between DIP and Dpr adhesion proteins coordinate the assembly of neural networks in Drosophila, but what happens when they are expressed in the same cell? Nicholas Morano, Davys Lopez, Hagar Meltzer, Alina Sergeeva, and co-workers show that these proteins can interact in cis, and that the balance between cis and trans interactions plays a role in neural development.

Image credit: pbio.3003030

Balancing cis and trans interactions during neural development

02/28/2025

Short Reports

Dynamics of a supergene

Supergenes can evolve when recombination-suppressing mechanisms like inversions promote co-inheritance of alleles at two or more polymorphic loci that affect a complex trait. A study of the BC supergene in wing color morphs of the butterfly Danaus chrysippus, by Rishi De-Kayne, Simon Martin and colleagues, reveals dynamic evolution of supergene haplotypes, fueled by incomplete recombination suppression.

Image credit: pbio.3003043

Dynamics of a supergene

02/21/2025

Research Article

Caspases and cytoprotective autophagy under stress

Caspase enzymes are traditionally known for their roles in late stages of apoptosis, but growing evidence supports their function in non-apoptotic cellular processes. Gayathri Samarasekera, Sharon Gorski and colleagues show that caspase-3 and caspase-7 promote cytoprotective autophagy in response to non-lethal stress by modulating PARP1 activity in breast cancer cells.

Caspases and cytoprotective autophagy under stress

Image credit: pbio.3003034

02/21/2025

Research Article

Human-mouse differences in necroptosis regulation

ZBP1 is known to initiate RIPK3-mediated necroptosis in murine models of viral infection, but how is this pathway regulated in human cells? Oluwamuyiwa Amusan, Shuqi Wang, Hongyan Guo and co-workers show that, unlike in the mouse, RIPK1 is required for HSV-induced ZBP1-dependent necroptosis in human cells.

Human-mouse differences in necroptosis regulation

Image credit: pbio.3002845

02/28/2025

Perspective

New solutions for antibiotic discovery

A major challenge in natural-product-based drug discovery is the identification of gene clusters most likely to specify new chemistry and bioactivities. This Perspective discusses the state of the art of antibiotic discovery.

New solutions for antibiotic discovery

Image credit: pbio.3001026

02/28/2025

Essay

Sensory stimulation to combat Alzheimer’s

Current treatments for Alzheimer's disease are hampered by limited efficacy, side effects and high costs. This Essay highlights non-invasive sensory stimulation as a promising emerging treatment.

Sensory stimulation to combat Alzheimer’s

Image credit: pbio.3003046

02/21/2025

BLOG POST

PLOS statement on recent US Executive Orders

We at PLOS believe that for science to maximally benefit society and inform policy, its core principles—integrity, transparency, inclusivity, and collaboration—must be upheld.

PLOS statement on recent US Executive Orders

Image credit: PLOS

02/14/2025

Community Page

GitHub for wet lab research

GitHub, widely used in software development, offers a robust framework for documenting laboratory research projects. This Community Page article explores how to incorporate the GitHub ecosystem into ‘wet’ lab workflows.

GitHub for wet lab research

Image credit: pbio.3003029

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