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Family tree of ‘octocorals’ pushes origin of bioluminescence back to 540 million years ago, when the first animal species developed eyes. Originally published by Freda Kreier, Nature, on 24 April 2024 A bioluminescent octocoral, Iridogorgia magnispiralis.Credit: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Deepwater Wonders of Wake Some 540 million years ago , an ancient group of corals developed the ability to make its own light 1. Scientists have previously found that bioluminescence is an ancient trait — with one group of tiny crustaceans first making their own light an estimated 267 million years ago . But this new finding pushes back the origins of bioluminescence even further by around 270 million years . “We had no idea it was going to be this old,” says Danielle DeLeo, an evolutionary marine biologist at Florida International University in Miami , who led the study, which was published on 24 April in Proceedings of the Royal Society B . “The fact that this trai...

  Originally published by Center for Genomic Regulation, on April 15, 2024        The mayfly, one of the 20 species studied in the paper. Credit: Isabel Almudi Seven hundred million years ago , a remarkable creature emerged for the first time. Though it may not have been much to look at by today's standards, the animal had a front and a back, a top and a bottom . This was a groundbreaking adaptation at the time, and one which laid down the basic body plan which most complex animals , including humans , would eventually inherit . The inconspicuous animal resided in the ancient seas of Earth , likely crawling along the seafloor . This was the last common ancestor of bilaterians , a vast supergroup of animals including vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals), and invertebrates (insects, arthropods, mollusks, worms, echinoderms and many more). To this day, more than 7,000 groups of genes can be traced back to the last common ancest...

Originally published by VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology) on April 15, 2024 APP-C-Terminal Fragments (APP-CTFs) accumulate between the endoplasmic reticulum and the lysosomes,. Credit: VIB Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains one of the most challenging and prevalent neurodegenerative disorders, affecting millions of individuals worldwide. In a new study published in Developmental Cell, researchers from the lab of Wim Annaert ( VIB-KU Leuven ) have identified a novel mechanism potentially connected to the early stages of AD . They demonstrated that a fragment of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) , called APP-CTF , disrupts communication between cellular compartments crucial for calcium storage and waste disposal , which could be an early event p receding neuronal cell death . These findings, with potential implications for the development of new AD treatments, suggest that preventing APP-CTF accumulation needs to be taken into account to develop more effective t...

Originally published by Greta Friar, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, on April 8, 2024 Credit: Pixabay, CC-0 Axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum) are a critically endangered species of salamander . The species has only one natural habitat remaining, a series of canals in Mexico City , and only 50 to 1,000 axolotls are estimated to be left living there. However, axolotls have become popular both as pets and as model organisms in research , so descendants of axolotls collected from Mexico City many years ago can now be found around the world. Axolotls are highly regenerative , able to regrow entire limbs , and this aspect of their biology is of interest to many researchers —including some at Whitehead Institute . A strange salamander Axolotls are known for their unusual looks : They appear to be part lizard and part fish , with a l ong, finned tail good for propelling them through the water, tiny limbs , and a crown of feathery gills like stout ferns wriggling on the s...

Originally published by Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown on April 2, 2024   Climbing fibers, in the form of ivy, wrap around the branches of a Purkinje cell-shaped tree, within the vibrant courtyard of a school populated by mice. The illustration captures the essential role of climbing fibers as teaching signals for associative cerebellar learning. Credit: Rita Felix Nestled at the back of your head, the cerebellum is a brain structure that plays a pivotal role in how we learn , adapting our actions based on past experiences. Yet the precise ways in which this learning happens are still being defined. A study led by a team at the Champalimaud Foundation brings new clarity to this debate, with a serendipitous finding of so-called " zombie neurons ." These neurons, alive but functionally altered , have helped to advance our understanding of the cerebellum's critical teaching signals . The word " cerebellum " means "little brain," despit...

Originally published by David Appell , Phys.org on March 29, 2024 Artist's impression of neutron stars merging, producing gravitational waves and resulting in a kilonova. Credit: Mark Garlick, University of Warwick, from Wikipedia licensed under CC BY 4.0. Could it be that human existence depends on gravitational waves ? Some key elements in our biological makeup may come from astrophysical events that occur because gravitational waves exist, a research team headed by John R. Ellis of Kings College London suggests. In particular, iodine and bromine are found on Earth thanks to a particular nuclear process that happens when neutron stars collide . In turn, orbiting neutron star pairs in spiral and collide due to their emissions of energy in the form of gravitational waves . There may thus be a direct path from the existence of gravitational waves to the existence of mammals. Read more