Article explores the ‘membrane pacemaker’ hypothesis which proposes a biochemical explanation for among-species variation in resting metabolism, based on the positive correlation between membrane docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and metabolic rate. The authors tested this hypothesis using a novel model, altricial red-winged blackbird nestlings, predicting that the proportion of DHA in muscle and liver membranes should increase with the increasing metabolic rate of the nestling as it develops endothermy. In support of the membrane pacemaker hypothesis, DHA proportions increased in membranes from pectoralis muscle, muscle mitochondria and liver during post-hatch development. By contrast, elevated dietary DHA had no effect on resting metabolic rate, despite causing significant changes to membrane lipid composition.

This article uses molecular dynamics simulations and experimental point mutations to probe the role of S-loop residues in tertiary structure, substrate binding, and allosteric communication.

This article emphasizes that 1/f noise has two different origins, one compatible with Laplace determinism and one determined by unpredictable crucial events.

This article uses Transient electron paramagnetic resonance (TREPR) spectroscopy to investigate the pathway and dynamics of electron transfer in a palladium porphyrin–fullerene donor–acceptor conjugate.