Article discusses how lipid droplets, also known as oil bodies or lipid bodies, are plant organelles that compartmentalize neutral lipids as a hydrophobic matrix covered by proteins embedded in a phospholipid monolayer. The authors review the growing body of knowledge about lipid droplets in plant cells, describe the evolutionary similarity and divergence in their associated subcellular machinery, and point to gaps that deserve future attention.

Authors of the article assert that isoflavonoids play important roles in plant defense and also exhibit a range of mammalian health-promoting activities. They emphasize that understanding the structural basis of isoflavone biosynthesis will facilitate the engineering of new bioactive isoflavonoids.

Article describes how prebiotic/probiotic supplementation represents a viable option for addressing elevated systemic inflammation and chronic disease risk in overweight individuals. The key findings support that 90-day prebiotic/probiotic supplementation may be associated with reduced adipose tissue inflammation, reduced systemic inflammation, and reduced chronic disease risk.

Article describes how proanthocyanidins (PAs) are natural flavan-3-ol polymers that contribute protection to plants under biotic and abiotic stress, benefits to human health, and bitterness and astringency to food products. This review extends the conventional understanding with recent findings that provide new insights to address lingering questions and focus strategies for manipulating PA traits in plants.

Article discusses how the global sequencing of microRNA (miRNA; miR) and integration to downstream mRNA expression profiles in early life stages (ELS) of fish following exposure to crude oil determined consistently dysregulated miRNAs regardless of the oil source or fish species. The overlay of differentially expressed miRNAs and mRNAs into in silico software determined that the key roles of these miRNAs were predicted to be involved in cardiovascular, neurological and visually-mediated pathways.

Article says that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a major source of phenotypic innovation and a mechanism of niche adaptation in prokaryotes. Methods for detecting HGT can be classified into phylogenetic-based and parametric or composition-based approaches, so authors exploited the complementary strengths of both the approaches to construct a high confidence horizontal gene flow network. The scale-free horizontal gene flow network presented here provides new insights into modes of transfer for the exchange of genetic information and also illuminates differential gene flow across phyla.

Article describes a stepwise targeted lipidomics approach to characterize the polar and non-polar lipid classes using complementary LC-MS methods. This lipidomics workflow was applied to developing, mature, and germinated pennycress seeds/seedlings and found unexpected changes among several lipid molecular species.

Authors of the article propose that thyroid hormones play an important role in regulating development of endothermy during the nestling period in altricial birds. Their data suggests plasma thyroid hormone levels play an active role in the systemic development of endothermic capacity and the development of ventilatory control.