Roads, buildings and farms are preventing Michigan’s only rattlesnake from finding mates outside of their population. A 15-year study shows that fragmentation into smaller, more isolated patches is likely reducing the threatened snake’s chances of survival. Michigan State University conservation biologists traced the family histories of more than 1,000 Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes caught and released in a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-funded project. The new findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, surprised even the researchers – the most inbred snakes were 13% less likely to have surviving offspring and had a nearly 12% lower annual survival rate. 

Just as smart traffic management ensures smooth vehicular movement during peak hours, our body relies on a molecular traffic system to manage the surge in glucose levels after a meal. Pancreatic β-cells play a major role in this system by taking up glucose from the blood and triggering insulin release into the bloodstream. Inside these cells, glucose uptake is managed by glucose transporters (GLUTs) – proteins that move to the β-cell surface when blood glucose levels rise and facilitate the entry of glucose into the cell to kickstart insulin release. A new study from the Department of Developmental Biology and Genetics (DBG), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), shows how this process falters in Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and how restoring it could open new therapeutic avenues. The work, carried out by the lab of Nikhil Gandasi, Assistant Professor in DBG, is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

On Japan’s desert islands, researchers uncovered a peculiar bathroom ritual among seabirds. Reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on August 18, the team found that streaked shearwaters (Calonectris leucomelas) poop while flying—not while floating on water—and they do so every 4 to 10 minutes. This habit may help the birds stay clean and fertilize the ocean below. 

Until recently, the color variations observed in the petals of Saintpaulia were attributed to periclinal chimera or the influence of genetically distinct cell layers. Now, a new study by researchers from Japan has identified a single gene called SiMYB2 that regulates petal colors in Saintpaulia by producing two distinct mRNA transcripts. This study lays the foundation for future horticulture-related research and can aid the deliberate breeding of patterned flowers.

Epithelial tissue forms the outermost protective barrier of tissues and organs and is therefore prone to wounds and injuries. Gaps created in this barrier get sealed efficiently by the coordinated movement of the epithelial cells surrounding the gap. These cells use largely two methods to move into these gaps, either by forming large membrane protrusions or by forming contractile bundles at the edge. Simran and colleagues, a group of researchers from Prof Tamal Das’ lab at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Hyderabad, discovered that epithelial cells can sense the shape and geometry of the gap created in the tissue and can respond to it by changing their intracellular structures and the mode of migration. Their study, now published in Nature Cell Biology, has revealed that the largest cell organelle- Endoplasmic Reticulum, senses and responds to the geometry of the gaps created in epithelial tissues and alters its structure and organization in response.  Specifically, they show that ER shows tubular morphology at the convex gap geometry, and it shows dense flat sheet morphology at the concave curvatures. They also collaborate with Prof. Fabian Spill and Dr. Pradeep Keshavanarayana at the University of Birmingham to develop a mathematical model to understand the physical mechanism for the reorganisation of ER. Keshavanarayana’s model revealed that these different ER morphologies are adapted to lower the strain energy of the cells while moving at different curvatures. The study reveals a previously undescribed role of ER, sensing and guiding the movement of the cells during wound healing. 

A new study led by the Konrad Lorenz Research Center for Behavior and Cognition at the University of Vienna sheds light on a long-standing mystery in animal behavior: why do certain individuals gain more influence than others within a group? The research shows that bold geese – but not aggressive ones – are more likely to be accepted as leaders, while exploratory individuals tend to follow them – revealing a nuanced interplay of personality and social roles in collective movement decisions. The results of the study have just been published in the journal iScience.