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biologyopen.bsky.social
Biology Open
@biologyopen.bsky.social
3.2K followers 99 following 220 posts
Facilitating rapid review for accessible research - an online only, #OpenAccess @biologists.bsky.social peer reviewed journal for research across all aspects of the biological sciences.

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biologyopen.bsky.social
Nazeefa Nashrah & co investigate how wild goldfish respond to rapid changes in temperatures by estimating their aerobic scope. They find that wild goldfish maintain a stable aerobic scope under short-term exposure to temperatures of 26 °C and 30°C. doi.org/10.1242/bio....
Comparison of RMR, MMR, and AS tested acutely at 26°C or 30°C. Boxplots depicting the median mass-adjusted (A) RMR, (B) MMR, and (C) AS of wild-caught invasive goldfish (C. auratus) tested at 26°C (N=11) and 30°C (N=10), standardized to the mass of an average fish in the experiment (5.76 g). Points represent individual fish.
November 11, 2025 at 2:01 PM
biologyopen.bsky.social
@sciencealyssa.bsky.social, @kourtidislab.bsky.social & co investigate the PIWI-piRNA pathway in #coloncancer using a nuanced bioinformatic and cell-based approach, linking the downregulation of PIWIL2 to disease progression, transposable element activation and DNA damage. doi.org/10.1242/bio....
Representative images of Caco2+LZRS, PIWIL2 KO+LZRS and PIWIL2 KO+PIWIL2-FLAG cells grown in anchorage independent conditions after 7 days.
November 11, 2025 at 9:00 AM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Issue 10 is done and dusted! Explore here: bit.ly/4nP8CHQ.

On the cover: An image of #zebrafish (prey) and a glass catfish (predator) interaction, from Kurnia et al., who use three-dimensional locomotion-tracking assays to observe fear responses in zebrafish.
An image of zebrafish (prey) and a Glass catfish, K. bicirrhis (predator) interaction from the paper by Kurnia et al., where three-dimensional locomotion-tracking assays were used to observe fear responses in zebrafish.
November 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
biologyopen.bsky.social
David Klinke II & co provide evidence-based guidance for optimal preclinical model selection in #melanoma research. They show that two different melanoma mouse models exhibit distinct growth kinetics, immune infiltration patterns and therapeutic sensitivities. doi.org/10.1242/bio....
B16F0 tumors have a faster intrinsic growth rate and are more immunogenic than YUMM1.7 tumors. Growth curves of B16F0 (A) and YUMM1.7 (B) tumors in immunocompetent C57BL/6 (black) and severely immunocompromised NSG (red) mice. Each curve corresponds to the tumor size in each mouse measured as a function of time. A mathematical model describing the growth kinetics (C) was regressed to the log-linear growth curves using a Markov chain Monte Carlo approach. (D) The posterior distribution in the parameter corresponding to the proliferation rate (kP) of YUMM1.7 (unshaded) and B16F0 (gray shaded) cell lines in NSG mice. (E) The posterior distribution in the log ratio of the proliferation rate in NSG mice (kP) relative to the net proliferation rate (kP−kD) of the same cells in C57BL/6 mice. The posterior distribution for YUMM1.7 cells is shown as an unshaded curve and for B16F0 cells in shown as a shaded curve.
November 10, 2025 at 10:46 AM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Irina Bacila & co from @sheffielduni.bsky.social define dysregulated molecular pathways induced by 21-hydroxylase deficiency in #zebrafish, highlighting its value as a model for adrenal disease. doi.org/10.1242/bio....
Adult cyp21a2−/−mutant zebrafish phenotype. (A) Diagram of intrrenal steroid biosynthesis in zebrafish (above) and whole-body steroid measurements in mutant fish (orange) compared to WT (blue). The horizontal lines represent median with interquartile range. n=6 fish per group. (B) Expression of fkbp5 in larvae and adult livers. Comparison of whole-body steroids between WT (blue) and mutant (orange). (C) Weight and length measurements in cyp21a2 male zebrafish, WT (blue) and mutant (orange). The numbers in brackets correspond to two different fish populations. (D) External phenotypes of cyp21a2 mutant and WT sibling fish. (E) Dissection images. The upper pictures show the abdominal visceral fat flanking the gastrointestinal tract. The lower images were obtained on dissecting the skull, visualising the brain and the subcutaneous fat around it. The visceral and subcutaneous fat is indicated by yellow arrows (*indicates statistical significance).
November 9, 2025 at 9:00 AM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Voice deficits are common in Parkinson's disease & significantly impact quality of life. Now, Brooke Rodgers & Allison Schaser show that overexpression of alpha-synuclein alone does not result in significant vocalisation deficits. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

#Parkinsonism #AlphaSynuclein
USV results averaged over each genotype group (GFP+, A53T SynGFP+; WT, wild type), pooled across sex. Results for simple (left column) and complex (right column) USVs were analyzed and plotted separately as total USV count (A,B), duration (D,E), frequency range (F,G), and maximum intensity (H,I). Group averages for USV complexity ratio are shown in C. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean value (s.e.m.) and points depict values for individual animals. The asterisk above the bars in plot B indicate a statistically significant difference between the group means observed in the analysis of deviance model [Pr(>χ2)<0.05].
November 7, 2025 at 5:01 PM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Hymenopteran insects such as #honeybees show great potential as biosensors. Lorenzo Corsico & co assess this potential in detecting potato virus Y, exploring a cost-effective approach for monitoring plant health. doi.org/10.1242/bio....
Memory retention of the conditioned bees for protocols A and B (n=53 and 83, respectively). The proportion of PER of the bees is displayed per sample type (healthy_O represents old healthy leaf samples, healthy_F represents fresh healthy leaf samples, infected_O represents old infected leaf samples, and infected_F represents fresh infected leaf samples) with standard error around the proportion as error bars.
November 7, 2025 at 12:08 PM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Neha Jadhav Giridhar, Bita Hambrecht and colleagues build a miniature 3D ‘nerve–muscle’ system in the lab that closely reflects the structure and function of human connections between nerves and muscles – something no other animal model can fully replicate. doi.org/10.1242/bio....
Temporal transcriptomic analysis of human neuromuscular co-cultures reveals dynamic gene expression patterns associated with NMJ development. (A) Schematic overview of the experimental design for temporal transcriptomic profiling at 1, 3, and 6 weeks of co-culture. (B) Venn diagram illustrating the overlap of differentially expressed transcripts between the 3 week versus 1 week and 6 week versus 3 week comparisons. The letters indicate the figure in which the respective transcripts are shown in more detail.
November 6, 2025 at 3:44 PM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Summer Paulson & co show that physical confinement enhances phagocytosis, and that phagocytosis induces persistent cell migration, or ‘phagocytic priming’. This response could be relevant for innate immune surveillance. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

#Microglia #ConfinedMotility
November 5, 2025 at 2:01 PM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Aurélia Joly, @micro-megs.bsky.social & co show that stem cell-intrinsic NF-κB activity is crucial for preventing apoptosis and ensuring proper intestinal epithelial repair following injury in #Drosophila. 🪰

doi.org/10.1242/bio....

#StemCells #Intestine
Rel is not essential for DSS-dependent ISC proliferation but impacts survival rates after DSS treatment. (A) 10-day-old unchallenged (UC) esgts/+ flies fed PBS/5% sucrose solution for 48 h; and DSS-treated esgts/+ or esgts/RelRNAi flies fed 3% DSS in 5% sucrose for 48 h. Scale bars: 25 µm. DNA (cyan), esg+ progenitors (yellow), and Dl+ ISCs (magenta) labelled.
November 5, 2025 at 10:08 AM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Francis Letendre & co describe a strong positive correlation between dinoflagellate cell surface area & mechanically stimulated bioluminescence peak intensity, opening new methods for monitoring harmful algal blooms and dinoflagellate populations. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

#HABs #Bioluminescence
The five species of dinoflagellates tested in this study. Sample size for each species is displayed in parentheses. (A) Lingulodinium polyedra (30). (B) P. bahamense (30). (C) Alexandrium monilatum (44). (D) P. noctiluca (31). (E) P. fusiformis (33). Scale bars are 50 um for A-C and 200 um for D,E.
November 3, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by Biology Open
biologists.bsky.social
Thank you Adam Downie @adamdownunder.bsky.social for sharing your experience of fee-free #OA publishing in @biologyopen.bsky.social via our #ReadAndPublish agreement with The University of Queensland. Read Adam’s paper: bit.ly/4hA9vm1

See if your institution is participating too: bit.ly/3O7BxGi
"Open Access provides the opportunity for your research to reach a broader audience and therefore have greater impact. However, as an early-career researcher, the fees associated with unlocking such reach is quite high. I am very appreciative for The University of Queensland's Read & Publish agreement with The Company of Biologists for taking the financial burden off my shoulders to maximise my research's impact within my field and beyond."
November 3, 2025 at 8:41 AM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Jimena Fernández & co reveal that pregnant Liolaemus pictus can physiologically compensate for experimentally induced thermal restrictions, maintaining offspring performance and highlighting the species’ potential resilience to warming. doi.org/10.1242/bio....
Adult female of the viviparous lizard L. pictus during pregnancy. The species was photographed in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina, where individuals were captured for this study. Photo credit: E. Kubisch.
November 2, 2025 at 8:38 PM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Allison Malay & co explore how landscape, immunity and hive management shape honey bee viral infections, offering new insights into pollinator health. 🐝 doi.org/10.1242/bio....
The influence of immunity, husbandry and landscape on viral infection intensity. This figure is a consolidated representation of the statistical model results and shows the influence of landscape (black boxes), immunity (gray boxes) and husbandry (while boxes) on viral infection intensity (center circle). Colored circles represent the viral model in where an independent variable was significant. Variables within the dotted box had no detectable impact. The sign to the right of the variable depicts its direction of influence (+ or −).
October 28, 2025 at 2:01 PM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Chutima Chan & co reveal how a mitochondrial enzyme can be redirected to peroxisomes by associating with a related enzyme, providing a novel route to regulate #metabolism. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

#MalateDehydrogenase
MTS-lacking Mdh1p can co-localize with Pex3p. pFA6a-GFP(S65T)-kanMX6 was used as a template DNA for preparing the DNA cassette by PCR. The yeast strain expressing Mdh1p(noMTS)-mCherry was transformed with the prepared DNA cassette. The resulting yeast construct after verified to express both Mdh1p(noMTS)-mCherry and Pex3p-GFP was subjected to imaging and analysis (A). Representative confocal images show two different yeast clones that were grown in YPD to saturation (1-day cultures). The fixed cells from each yeast clone were captured as Z-stack images, which were then compressed into two-dimensional images with maximum projection. Three independent experiments were performed with similar results (B). A co-localization frequency analysis, performed on cells from the saturation phase (1-day cultures), showed that while an average of 72.50% (Clone #1) and 71.58% (Clone #2) of cells contained both protein signals, there was 100% co-localization between them
October 28, 2025 at 11:02 AM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Inner ear development involves epithelial cells from opposite sides fusing. Tamilkumar & co find that the epithelial cells that fuse during chick otic vesicle closure are not completely rigid and adapt a reversible, fluid-like trait that facilitates fusion. doi.org/10.1242/bio....
#EpithelialFusion
October 27, 2025 at 3:05 PM
biologyopen.bsky.social
With mRNA-based labelling and light sheet fluorescence imaging in Perfluorodecalin, Oksana Netschitailo and colleagues reveal the dynamics of extra-embryonic membrane formation in honeybee embryos. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

#LiveImaging #Insects #Morphogenesis
The development of a honeybee embryo after egg laying in a light sheet microscope.
October 25, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Reposted by Biology Open
biologists.bsky.social
We are highlighting Jane Francis, Director of the British Antarctic Survey, UK, who also delivered a plenary lecture at the Biologists @ 100 conference, as an extraordinary biologist. #100biologists @bas.ac.uk
October 24, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by Biology Open
biologists.bsky.social
You can read Jane's recent @biologyopen.bsky.social interview here: doi.org/10.1242/bio....
From fossils to future – Jane Francis on polar exploration and changing climates
ABSTRACT. Professor Dame Jane Francis is a palaeoclimatologist whose research has focused on studying fossil plants, particularly from polar regions, to understand past biodiversity and climate. She i...
doi.org
October 24, 2025 at 3:30 PM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Toiba Mushtaq & co reveal that tricellulin is a stable component of tricellular tight junctions, crucial for maintaining epithelial barrier function & integrity. In addition to protein–protein interactions, monolayer mechanics control the proper localisation of tricellulin. doi.org/10.1242/bio....
Localization of tricellulin, occludin, angulin-1/LSR, and afadin in MDCK cell monolayers on fibronectin-coated high-precision glass coverslips. Maximum intensity projections of endogenous tricellulin (A), angulin-1/LSR (B), and afadin (C) in respect to occludin in confluent wild-type MDCK cell monolayers, as detected by anti-tricellulin, anti-angulin-1/LSR, anti-afadin and anti-occludin antibodies. Single channels are shown as inverted lookup tables (LUTs; greyscale). Merged images on the right display co-localization of occludin (green) with Tricellulin (Ai-ii, magenta), angulin-1 (Bi-ii, magenta), afadin (Ci-ii, magenta). Magnified insets (A-C,ii), along with the orthogonal x-z projections, highlight the localization of these proteins at tricellular junctions. Scale bars: 10 µm (A-Ci); 5 µm (A-Cii).
October 24, 2025 at 1:05 PM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Saanjbati Adhikari speaks with authors, @apaterlini.bsky.social, @wimvanderpoel.bsky.social & co, about their first impressions, their experiences with the peer-review process, their favourite aspects of publishing with BiO & how publishing in BiO has impacted their careers. doi.org/10.1242/bio....
Left to right: Michael Herbert, Albena Dinkova-Kostova, Andrea Paterlini, Daisy Pineda-Suazo, Wim van der Poel.
October 24, 2025 at 8:02 AM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Issue 9 is closed! Explore Issue 9: bit.ly/4710ChG

Cover: Otic vesicle undergoing epithelial fusion, stained for Cdh1 (red), Laminin (magenta), F-actin (green) and Nucleus (cyan).
Otic vesicle undergoing epithelial fusion, stained for Cdh1 (red), Laminin (magenta), F-actin (green) and Nucleus (cyan). The otic placode is induced on the surface ectoderm, and eventually undergoes pseudo-stratification and invagination to become a cup and then, a vesicle. The arms of the vesicle fuse and segregate from the surface ectoderm to internalise the vesicle.
October 23, 2025 at 5:10 PM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Md Tangigul Haque & co show that natural heatwaves reduce mating frequency in Australian damselflies but do not affect flight activity or abundance, highlighting potential long-term consequences, including population decline and biodiversity loss. doi.org/10.1242/bio....
Differences in abundance and mating pairs during heatwave and normal days. The boxplots show that (A) abundance of damselflies was similar during heatwave and normal days, and (B) the number of mating pairs was lower during heatwave days. Bold line inside boxes denotes median, the bottom and top lines of the boxes represent 25th and 75th percentiles, respectively. Each red and blue dot represents a data point collected during normal days and heatwave, respectively. We used 36 observations to determine abundance (N=485) and 36 observations to count mating pairs (N=53). *P<0.05.
October 23, 2025 at 8:02 AM
biologyopen.bsky.social
The transcriptional regulators SOX2 and NR2F1 drive the development of the visual thalamus. Mutations in these genes cause visual impairment in humans, and now Linda Serra & co conduct genetic and molecular analyses on the SOX2 and NR2F1-coregulated genes. doi.org/10.1242/bio....
RNA-seq of the visual thalamus (dLGN) of Sox2 and Nr2f1 thalamic mutants identifies many genes differentially expressed in both mutants. (A) dLGN immunofluorescence with antibodies recognizing SOX2 (green) and NR2F1 (magenta) at P0 (wild type, con). Scale bar: 200 µm. (B) Sections comprising the dLGN at P0 used for RNA-seq analyses, before (left) and after (right) dissection. Scale bar: 200 µm. (C) Numbers of significantly dysregulated genes, identified in RNA-seq experiments, in Sox2 and Nr2f1 mutants, and in both mutants are shown.
October 22, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Reposted by Biology Open
biologists.bsky.social
As part of our commitment to Open Access, we support libraries, consortia and researchers. For #OAWeek, we share a recent webinar that includes tips and recommendations for navigating the editorial process and publishing #OA
youtu.be/PjD5QQ-p0Xg
#OAWeek25
Publishing with The Company of Biologists: supporting biologists, inspiring biology
YouTube video by The Company of Biologists
youtu.be
October 22, 2025 at 11:23 AM