November 20, 2024 – Genome Research (https://genome.org) publishes a special issue highlighting advances in long-read sequencing applications in biology and medicine. In this first of two Special Issues guest-edited by Dr. Ana Conesa, Dr. Alexander Hoischen, and Dr. Fritz Sedlazeck, Genome Research publishes a diverse collection of research and review articles highlighting novel applications and developments in long-read sequencing (LRS). Papers in this issue focus on original research offering novel biological and clinical insights gained using long-read DNA and RNA sequencing technologies and other long molecule approaches. The issue offers significant advances in long-read sequencing analysis, including novel methods for genome assembly and annotation, characterization of complex structural variation, quantifying DNA and RNA modification, full-length mRNA isoform resolution, vaccine and gene therapy vector quality control, and bacterial outbreak tracing. Several of the studies are highlighted below. 

Typically, closely related animal species have difficulty coexisting because they are competing for similar resources. Despite eating the same figs, binturong, small-toothed palm, masked palm, and common palm civets do coexist together. To understand how they coexist, a new study explores their degree of faunivory.

Dairy cows typically rest for 10 or more hours a day, so a dry, clean, and comfortable place—such as a freestall—to lie down and rest is essential for their health, well-being, and production performance. One key factor in whether stalls are comfortable for cows is the ease with which they can get up and down, so it is common on farms for staff to watch for abnormal rising behaviors as part of standard welfare management. In a new study in the Journal of Dairy Science, published by Elsevier, a Swedish team, in collaboration with Sony Nordic, introduced a new automated model that accurately detects posture transitions in dairy cows. This innovative approach using 3-dimensional (3D) pose estimation offers valuable, unbiased insights into animal welfare and could offer a less time-consuming and more consistent assessment tool for researchers and farmers alike.

Summary:

For the first time, Ethiopian wolves have been documented feeding on the nectar of Ethiopian red hot poker flowers.

This is the first large carnivore species ever to be documented feeding on nectar.

In doing so, the wolves may act as pollinators – perhaps the first known plant-pollinator interaction involving a large carnivore. 

With most donated clothes exported or thrown away, experts are calling for a shakeup of how we deal with the growing fashion waste issue.