This article presents research where various kudzu accessions were analyzed through barcoding and comparative transcriptomics, generating tools for identification and molecular pathway analysis.

This article is an editorial feature highlighting editor of Plant & Cell Physiology Dr. Ana Paula Alonso. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and serves as the Director of the BioAnalytical Facility at the University of North Texas.

Article examining the population mobility and air quality before and after the lockdown (mandated restriction of activity) during the public health response to COVID-19. This article is part of the Special Issue on COVID-19.

Data management plan for the research grant "Generating pathogen- / pest-resistant non-GMO cotton through targeted genome editing of oxylipin signaling pathways."

Article describes the devastating effects of nuclear radiation and its long-lasting consequences on Earth’s ecosystems. The authors call upon all scientists to communicate the importance of the environmental impacts of such an event to all life forms on Earth, including humankind.

Article explores the question of whether animals with switched phenotypes during early development are unable to return to a normal range of adult phenotypes, or whether they do not experience the specific environmental conditions necessary for them to switch back to the normal range of adult phenotypes.

Article describes how products of plant secondary metabolism, such as phenolic compounds, flavonoids, alkaloids, and hormones, play an important role in plant growth, development, stress resistance. The authors state that the overall goal of this study was to develop a high-throughput workflow to identify and quantify plant polyphenols.

Paper discusses metabolomics studies that link changes in primary or specialized metabolism to the defense responses of plants against bacterial, fungal, nematode, and viral pathogens.

Article studying an underappreciated complexity in pathways for synthesis and accumulation of Triacylglycerols from plants, familiar to most people as vegetable oils.

This article developed a modified, rapid higher throughput thioacidolysis method to analyze both lignin monomeric composition and tricin content in the lignin polymer. The results demonstrate that the modified method can be used for rapid, high-throughput, and reliable lignin composition and tricin content analyses for screening transgenic plants for cell wall modifications or in large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS).

This article describes a new methodology for monitoring sucrose labeling using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). To date, the most commonly used method to monitor sucrose labeling is by nuclear magnetic resonance, which requires substantial amounts of biological sample.

Article presents research on how temperature affects fish populations. The study shows how changes in temperature may induce craniofacial and morphological alterations in fish during early stages and contribute to understanding the possible effects of global warming in early development of fish and its ecological implications.

Data collected on air breathing development in the bristlenose pleco. Bristlenose plecos breath air with a highly vascularized stomach when exposed to aquatic hypoxic conditions. This study looked at the development of this behavior and when the fish fist began to breathe air.

This study further explores a prior screening program carried out using MTT assay that identified a series of novel benzimidazole derivatives, among which Methyl 2-(5-fluoro-2-hydroxyphenyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxylate (MBIC) showed highest anticancer efficacy compared to that of chemotherapeutic agent, cisplatin. In this article, the authors find that MBIC inhibited cell viability in different hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines without exerting significant cytotoxic effects on normal liver cells. The results of this study demonstrate that MBIC may inhibit cell proliferation via ROS-mediated activation of the JNK signaling cascade in HCC cells.

Article investigating if the exposure to diesel exhaust particles (DEP) can alter commensal lung microbiota, thereby promoting alterations in the lung’s immune and inflammatory responses. This article also explores if diet contributes to the alteration of the commensal lung microbiome.

Article assessing membrane lipids in M. truncatula tissues using electrospray ionization–mass spectrometry. The results suggest that specific PC species may be differentially important in diverse nodule zones and cell types, and that membrane lipid remodeling during P stress is not uniform across the nodule.

Article examining the the metabolic cost of self-righting in the terrestrial Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise using respirometry and kinematic video analysis and comparing this to the metabolic cost of locomotion at a moderate, easily sustainable speed. The results found that self-righting is, relatively, metabolically expensive and costs around two times the mass-specific power required to walk.

Article states that gene editing tools such as CRISPR/Cas9 are often thought of as a means to prevent gene expression; however, a more subtle and yet powerful approach is the enhancement of gene expression by precise deletion of repressor sites within a gene of interest. Authors argue that gene editing of miRNA target sites is preferable over deletion of the miRNA genes themselves, given that it avoids the pitfalls of unspecific derepression of miRNA target(s) beyond the gene of interest.

Article highlights the importance of pectin in cell wall integrity and the value of lignin modification as a tool to interrogate the informational content of plant cell walls.

This article provides the summary of the reports of the geographical distribution in the Maritime Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions of Parochlus steinenii (Gercke, 1889) (Diptera, Chironomidae), the only flying insect occurring naturally in the Antarctic continent. This database was developed as one of the main objectives of two Chilean-funded research projects addressing understanding the effects of climate change on sub-Antarctic and Antarctic insects.

Data management plan for the grant, "NSFDEB-NERC: Collaborative Research: Wildlife corridors: do they work and who benefits?" Research on the impact of wildlife corridors using genetics as the measure of effectiveness. The study will use 20 independent landscapes to quantify how corridor traits affect gene flow, and will use non-flying mammals as focal species because they are strongly affected by fragmentation. The research team hypothesizes (1) a strong non-linear decline in success (gene flow) with corridor length, reflecting the skewed distribution of dispersal distances within species; (2) success will drop steeply as corridor width falls below a threshold, with the threshold determined by species traits; and (3) species that are bigger, are habitat specialists, or have greater dispersal abilities (relative to brain size or reproductive rate) will benefit more from corridors. Testing these hypotheses will allow generalization to a wide range of mammal species not included in this project. It will use highly flexible Random Forest models to answer the overarching question: What landscape traits (e.g., corridor width, degree of human disturbance) and species traits (mobility, affinity to particular land cover types) are associated with effective corridors?

Article describes study analyzing the effects of a new purine derivative drug, PDD005, in attenuating mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, using both in vivo and in vitro models.

This article presents a study that was done over a period of 3 years to explicate the instructional processes involved in teaching an undergraduate course-based research experience (CRE). The study presented here delineated a set of specific instructional practices used by active CRE instructors and modeled the relations between the use of these practices and specified outcomes. The resultant educational models should provide clarification of the ways in which the aims of CRE can be effectively achieved by instructors.

This article reports eight newly isolated Streptomyces bacteriophages recovered using either direct plating or enrichment on three Streptomyces hosts.