The nerve growth-repellent activity that generates spinal nerve repeat-patterning in birds and mammals is identified at the molecular level, and a similar system is revealed in adult brain grey matter.
Drosophila renal stem cells are exceptional in abundance, require induction to produce a single cell type, principal cells, and mitigate damage during adulthood associated with external stresses.
The evolutionary loss of the main enzyme required for ketone body biosynthesis suggests that alternative strategies to provide energy for large brains during fasting evolved repeatedly in mammals.
UV-reflective dragonfly wax is shown to consist of very long-chain methyl ketones and aldehydes, and a synthetic dragonfly wax spontaneously forms light-scattering fine structures with strong UV reflection.
Glucocorticoid receptor directly regulates the transcriptional activity of peroxisome proliferator-activated alpha (PPARα) before birth in anticipation of the sudden shifts in the postnatal nutrient source and metabolic demands.
Human listeners rapidly form robust, long lasting (up to 7 weeks) memories of rarely encountered, featureless sound sequences presented among many similar stimuli.
Mutations in several components of a bacterial ribosome are shown to broadly decrease antibiotic and stress sensitivity, and readily accessible reversion mutations allow these ribosomal mutations to serve as stepping stones to high level antibiotic resistance.
Perceived imminence of threat and resulting intensity of defensive responses during serial compound stimulus conditioning are determined by auditory stimulus salience, not cue sequence as recently reported.
