Article describes the Streptomyces sanglieri bacteriophages AxeJC, Cumberbatch, Eastland,Eklok, HFrancette, Ignacio, Piccadilly, and Vondra form a novel actinobacteriophage cluster,BP. These siphoviruses have circularly permuted genomes with an average size of 37,700 bp and a GC content of 71%. Each genome contains approximately 58 protein-coding genes, with no tRNAs.

This article explores DNA methylation's role in the regulation of gene expression in reptiles. Results show that embryonic hypoxia programs DNA methylation and gene expression patterns and that these changes are associated with enhanced cardiac anoxia tolerance in snapping turtles later in life.

Article describes how monitoring immunological response to physical stressors in a field setting is challenging because existing methods require a laboratory visit and traditional blood collection via venipuncture. The purpose of this study was to determine if our optimized dry blood spot (DBS) methodology yields sufficient total RNA to quantify the effect of Baker's Yeast Beta Glucan supplementation on post-exercise mRNA expression.

Article describes how kudzu produces both O- and C-glycosylated isoflavones, with puerarin (C-glucosyl daidzein) as an important bioactive compound. The authors go on to explain how expression of recombinant UGTs in Escherichia coli and candidate C-glycosyltransferases in Medicago truncatula were used to explore substrate specificities, and gene silencing of UGT and key isoflavone biosynthetic genes in kudzu hairy roots employed to test hypotheses concerning the substrate(s) for C-glycosylation.

This article develops a method, using a single DNA construct that uses CRISPR–Cas9 gene editing to knock-out expression of an endogenous gene of lignin monomer biosynthesis while at the same time expressing a modified version of the gene’s open reading frame that escapes cutting by the Cas9 system and complements the introduced mutation in a tissue-specific manner. This method is applicable to any plant species in which transformation and gene editing are feasible and validated vessel-specific promoters are available.

The authors of the article used pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) across South Dakota, USA as a model species to identify environmental factors driving spatiotemporal variation in population productivity. They found that the amount of grassland at a local spatial scale was the primary factor influencing an area being a HotSpot.

Article presents a method that provides a novel way to synthesize NPs and expose biological organisms for various toxicological analysis.

Article discusses how a bifunctional peroxidase enzyme, 4-coumarate 3-hydroxylase (C3H/APX), provides a parallel route to the shikimate shunt pathway for the conversion of 4-coumarate to caffeate in the early steps of lignin biosynthesis. Here, a multi-omic approach was used to characterize molecular changes resulting from C3H/APX-KD associated lignin modification and negative growth phenotype in Brachypodium distachyon.

This article studies the nest-site selection and survival rate of the five most abundant open-cup forest-dwelling passerines (Elaenia albiceps, Zonotrichia capensis, Phrygilus patagonicus, Turdus falcklandii, and Anairetes parulus) in the world’s southernmost forests of Navarino Island, in the Cape Horn Biosphere reserve, Chile (55°S).

Article aims to identify other proteases that may activate FVII using zebrafish as a model.

Article describes how silicon can be important for the growth, functioning, and stoichiometric regulation of nutrients for high-Si-accumulating bamboo. The authors demonstrated that silicon supply can decrease the ratio of C:Si in bamboo leaves and increase the ratio of N:P without altering nutrient status or the N:P ratio of tree spalings.