Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 6h

Andreas Ruser & co measure the hearing sensitivity of 2 grey seals and find that hearing thresholds at low frequencies were lower than predicted by the standard audiogram currently used to assess the impact of anthropogenic sound on marine mammal hearing. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

Schematic of underwater setup for psychophysical research, including the trial console and the position of the seal at station. (A) The trial start button initiated either a ‘signal-present’ or a ‘signal-absent’ trial. At the completion of the trial, either the GO or NOGO lamp turned on, indicating to the trainer which trial type had been presented to the seal. The trainer would then either confirm a correct response by pressing the ‘correct’ button, which also presented the secondary reinforcer, or the ‘incorrect’ button, recalling the seal to the trainer at the surface. (B) Correct start position at the chin station, for each trial. For a correct rejection, the seal was required to stay stationed on the chin station until the end of the trial (4 s). (C) For a hit, the seal left the station upon presentation of the sound stimulus and touched the response target on the left of the chin station with his nose.

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 3d

This article was handled through our Fast & Fair peer review workflow. This initiative aims to provide authors with a first decision post review within 7 working days. Read more articles handled through our Fast & fair peer review in our collection. bit.ly/4fiAxNE

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 3d

Moss, @hammofish.bsky.social & co establish #zebrafish as a viable model for dissecting LMX1B-related pathologies like Nail-patella syndrome (NPS). Zebrafish lmx1ba & lmx1bb knockout lines exhibit paralogue-specific roles in the development of tissues affected in NPS. 🐟 doi.org/10.1242/bio....

Loss of Lmx1b affects muscle formation in the trunk but not in the head. Confocal z-stack projections of wt and dKO mutants at 5 dpf immunostained with myosin, showing the whole body, scale bars: 250 μm, (A) and zoomed in regions of trunk muscle where defects in muscle formation increase in severity from no defect in wild type (B) to increasing number of defects in dKOs (C-E). Scale bars: 50 μm. (C,D) Pink asterisks indicate large gaps between myofibrils; (D) white arrowheads indicate abnormal fibre branching. (F) Percentage of larvae showing muscle defects at different severities quantified for wt and dKO larvae at 5 dpf. Differences in muscle formation between wt and dKO larvae at 3 dpf and 5 dpf quantified as (G) somite area and (H) the percentage coverage of muscle (myosin) staining per somite across all genotypes. Each data point is an average of measurements taken from three separate somites per fish. Schematics (right) show how measurements were made. N=11 for wild type and dKO mutants. Welch's t-test performed for G where ***P=.0001. Student's unpaired t-tests performed for H where *P=.01 and **P=.0092. (I) Confocal maximum projections of wt and dKO mutant larvae at 5 dpf immunostained for muscle (green) and co-stained with DAPI (blue). Scale bars: 100 μM. (J) Confocal z-stack projections of the lower jaw of wild type and dKO mutants immunostained for the tendon marker Thbs4 (cyan) and Collagen type II (Col2a1; red) at 5 dpf. Scale bars: 50 μM. (K) Schematic showing location and names of key muscles in the lower jaw of zebrafish. Muscles measured here are filled in in green. (L) Graphs showing quantification of muscle fibre length and width in the intermandibularis posterior (imp) and interhyal (ih) muscles at 5 dpf. N=5 for wild type and 7 for dKOs. Two datapoints plotted per fish, per age as measurements taken from right and left side of the lower jaw. Student's unpaired t-test performed at each age for all graphs.

1 1

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 3d

Bats perform flights with continual altitude changes rather than flying at a constant altitude. Gottfried Sachs provides an explanation for this by showing that flights with continual altitude changes constitute a fuel-saving flight mode in bats. 🦇 doi.org/10.1242/bio....

Cycle of powered-gliding/climbing flight. A cycle of powered-gliding/climbing flight is presented in the upper part, and a glide with a fixed wing posture in the lower part. The grey arrow shows how the distance covered in the powered glide is increased as compared to the glide with a fixed wing posture. Furthermore, the relationships concerning forces, speeds and descent angles are shown in boxes next to the respective trajectories. The forces are the drag D, lift L and thrust T. The speeds are the airspeed V and the descent rate Vs. The descent angles are denoted by γpg and γgl.

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 4d

Our Fast & Fair peer review initiative aims to provide authors with a first decision post review within 7 working days. Read articles handled through our Fast & Fair peer review in our collection. bit.ly/4fiAxNE

#fastandfairpeerreview

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 4d

@adamdownunder.bsky.social, @craigefranklin.bsky.social & co expose clownfish embryos to UV radiation (UVR) corresponding to water depths reflective of their settlement; mimicking what could happen in a future coral reef with fewer structures shielding against UVR. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

The effect of UVR (UVB: 280-315 nm) across developmental age (dpf) of clownfish (A. ocellaris) embryos. Embryos were exposed to either control (no UVR; pink colour bar) or UVR levels representing the within-depth range of A. ocellaris: 6 m (low UVR treatment; 80 µW m2; green colour bar) or 2 m (high UVR treatment; 280 µW m2; blue colour bar) (Braun et al., 2016). UVR exposure occurred for 2 h daily from when eggs were laid (0 dpf) until hatched at 8-9 dpf. On 2 and 5 dpf, individual embryos were collected for (A) mass (mg; n=15 per age per treatment group), and (B) yolk sac volume (mm3; n=15 per age per treatment group). (C) DNA damage (concentration of CPD) only was measurable in embryos exposed to high UVR treatment only (n=13 measured in 2 dpf embryos, and n=8 measured in 5 dpf embryos). The experiment was replicated three times per treatment using two different parent pairs. In all three panels, predicted Bayesian posterior distributions are shown with symbols and error bars representing the median and 0.95 and 0.8 quartile-based credible intervals, respectively.

1 1 1

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 5d

Our Fast & Fair peer review initiative aims to provide authors with a first decision post review within 7 working days. Read articles handled through our Fast & Fair peer review in our collection. bit.ly/4fiAxNE

#fastandfairpeerreview

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 5d

Thomas & co present an open-source 3D Slicer extension that reduces photogrammetry error by ∼ 15% on delicate rodent skulls, providing a convenient interface for generating 3D models of biological specimens from photographs. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

Overview of the photogrammetry extension workflow using a mountain beaver skull dataset. (A) Example of one original photograph from the 320-image dataset, which was taken as the specimen mounted on a turntable. The photogrammetry user interface consists of two module tabs (Image Masking and NodeODM) that focus on different aspects of the workflow. (B) The Image Masking interface displaying a fully masked dataset. The left 2D view shows the original photograph overlaid with a blue mask generated using the SAM, highlighting the segmented specimen. The right 2D view presents the same image post-segmentation, with the background removed, isolating the skull. (C) ODM interface post-photogrammetry reconstruction with default parameters set in the Find GCP and Launch NodeODM Task subsections. The resulting reconstructed and textured 3D skull model is displayed imported directly into the 3D viewport via the 'Import Reconstructed Model' functionality.

1 3

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 6d

Read more in our 'First person' interview with Matthew Penaso-Stinson & Summer Paulson, who conducted this research as PhD students in Jeremy Rotty's lab at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, USA. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

Matthew Penaso-Stinson; and Summer Paulson.

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 6d

Stinson & co show that macrophages migrate persistently after they transition from 2D adhesion to an adhesive confined environment. Migration is enhanced further if cells sense a fibronectin gradient.
doi.org/10.1242/bio....

TIRF microscopy showing murine macrophages (green) under agarose-induced confinement binding fibronectin (red) coating the chamber surface.

1 2

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 6d

Debadas Sahoo & Sibakalyani Acharya reveal metabolic depression & suppression of the non-specific immune response in hibernating male common Asian toads, characterised by elevated oxidative stress markers in liver tissue, indicating a tissue-specific immune response. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

Non-specific immune status in terms of serum complement protein indicated by bacteria-killing ability (BKA), ROS level in liver tissue in terms of lipid peroxidation (LPO) or TBARS (Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance) formed and oxidised glutathione (GSSG)/reduced glutathione (GSH) ratio. (A) Bacteria killing ability (BKA), (B) LPO (TBARS), (C) GSSG/GSH ratio. Animals used in each group (n)=7. ***denotes significant differences between hibernating and active toads group at P<0.001.

1

Reposted by Biology Open

The Company of Biologists @biologists.bsky.social · 9d

Our next extraordinary biologist is Mark Peifer, recent @biologists.bsky.social Director and a prolific author, having published in @dev-journal.bsky.social, @jcellsci.bsky.social and @biologyopen.bsky.social. #100biologists
@peiferlabunc.bsky.social

1 9 27

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 10d

This article was handled through our Fast & Fair peer review workflow. This initiative aims to provide authors with a first decision post review within 7 working days. Read more articles handled through our Fast & fair peer review in our collection. bit.ly/4fiAxNE

1

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 10d

Adapting gait to varying speeds and inclines is essential for navigating complex environments. Shizuku Terui & co investigate how critical kinematic variables, which reflect how the body manages momentum transfer between steps, adapt to changes in speed and incline. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

Participants walked on a treadmill equipped with an incline function under conditions combining speed and incline, and their motion was captured using a motion capture system to obtain the coordinates of the CoM. For the uphill conditions, the anteroposterior coordinates were transformed using trigonometric functions to align with the gait path, similar to the level conditions. Therefore, both the anteroposterior direction and the horizontal plane defined by the anteroposterior and mediolateral directions were made parallel to the gait path in both level and uphill conditions. Parts of the figure were drawn by using pictures from Servier Medical Art. Servier Medical Art by Servier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

1

Reposted by Biology Open

The Company of Biologists @biologists.bsky.social · 10d

We are highlighting Cathy Jackson, @biologyopen.bsky.social Deputy Editor and an Editorial Advisory Board member at @jcellsci.bsky.social, as an extraordinary biologist this week. #100biologists @ijmonod.bsky.social

11 21

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 11d

To know more about this research, read our 'First person' interview with Kishalay Ghosh and Rohit Iyer from the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), India. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 11d

#Drosophila larvae have a lymph gland with hematopoietic progenitors & subsequently differentiated hemocytes, similar to blood cells. Ghosh, Iyer et al. induce inflammation stress in different lymph gland cell subsets to examine how these progenitor cells respond to stress. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

Sustained upregulation of ISR pathway in Imd over-activation scenario in hematopoietic progenitors is capable of restoring hematopoiesis. Schematic of Gosh et al.'s working model summarizing how restoration of LG hematopoiesis occurs upon ectopic ISR upregulation in the hematopoietic progenitors in an Imd pathway over-activation genetic background (U). Created in BioRender. Khadilkar, R. J., (2025). https://BioRender.com/w52d960. This figure was sublicensed under CC-BY 4.0 terms. Scale bar: 50 µm (A-K′), 30 µm (M-R′).

1

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 12d

The brain is the most metabolically active organ in the body and has a high demand for iron. Mariam Duhaini & co identify new molecular signals released by brain astrocytes under iron deficiency. These findings offer crucial insights into brain iron control. 🧠🐭
doi.org/10.1242/bio....

Experimental workflow and differential analysis of the astrocyte secretome under iron-deficient conditions. (A) Schematic of the experimental design. Primary astrocytes were isolated from neonatal mouse pups and cultured under control or iron-deficient conditions for 24 h, followed by collection of conditioned media and analysis by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 13d

Our Fast & Fair peer review initiative aims to provide authors with a first decision post review within 7 working days. Read articles handled through our Fast & Fair peer review in our collection. bit.ly/4fiAxNE

#fastandfairpeerreview

2 2

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 19d

Read our 'First person' interview with Ashley Gendreau, a research assistant in the lab of Roger Hanlon at @mblscience.bsky.social , investigating marine biology and animal behaviour, with a focus on how animals sense, move through and interact with their environments.

doi.org/10.1242/bio....

1

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 19d

Ashley Gendreau, Roger Hanlon & co @mblscience.bsky.social show that despite having a highly decentralised nervous system, octopuses exhibit specialised & repeatable patterns of arm use, offering new insights into sensorimotor control in animals with nontraditional anatomies. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

Initial arm inserted into the dome. At the beginning of each experimental trial (n=117), octopuses (n=14 individual animals) most frequently used one of their four anterior arms as the initial arm inserted into the dome 75% of the time (blue rings: anterior=88 trials; orange rings: posterior=29 trials). Each insertion was recorded from a unique trial, and animal identity was tracked throughout. A significant anterior preference was detected (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, two-tailed: W=76.0, P=0.006). No significant difference was found among individual anterior arms (Friedman's ANOVA: χ2=2.70, d.f.=3, P=0.441).

1 2

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 20d

To learn more about this research, read our First person interview with Angela Fan and @yoldasyildiz.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

1 1

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 20d

Angela Fan, @yoldasyildiz.bsky.social & co show the importance of studying alcohol effects in more realistic systems that reflect the complexity of the living brain, showing that alcohol during adolescence can affect RNA regulation in very specific ways. 🧠https://doi.org/10.1242/bio.062010

hnRNP A1 (red) typically resides in the nucleus (blue), but relocalizes to the cytoplasm after 2-h ethanol exposure in IVB cells (rat hypothalamic neuronal-derived cell line), and the cells also exhibit cellular swelling.

1 1 2

Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 24d

Arnon Pudgerd and colleagues show that ecdysteroid stimulated bursicon expression and improved the immune response against bacterial challenges. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

Hematopoietic cell proliferation and expression of immune-related genes following 20E injection. Histological section of hematopoietic tissue showing mitotic cells after injection with PBS (A,B) and 20E (C,D). Black arrows indicate the mitotic cells. (E) Histogram showing a higher average number of mitotic cells in hematopoietic tissue following 20E compared to PBS injection. Histogram demonstrating an increase in ALF and CHF mRNA expression in hemocytes (F) following 20E injection, while the expression of ALF and CHF mRNA was consistent in hematopoietic tissue (G) (n=5). Asterisks indicate statistically significant differences (***P<0.001).

1 1 2

Reposted by Biology Open

The Company of Biologists @biologists.bsky.social · 26d

To know about Daisy's experience of publishing with @biologyopen.bsky.social, read this Editorial: doi.org/10.1242/bio....

Catch up with authors across the history of Biology Open

Contributors to this article. Left to right: Michael Herbert, Albena Dinkova-Kostova, Andrea Paterlini, Daisy Pineda-Suazo, Wim van der Poel.The Company of Biologists is celebrating its 100-year anniv...

doi.org

1 1