Open Reading Frame brings together a selection of recent publication highlights from elsewhere in the open access ecosystem. This week we take a look at the past few weeks in biology.
Imagine there’s no tarantulas
It may be easy if you try, but in fact there is even one whole species named in honour of John Lennon: a newly identified tarantula species (perhaps a more appropriate name for a beetle, if not a Beatle) found in the lower Amazon basin, is given the name Bumba lennoni in a new article. The authors are all fans, and say this is in honour of John Lennon as he “contributed to make this world a gentler place”. Whether readers feel the same is true of Bumba lennoni, being of a large enough size to give arachnophobes nightmares and possessing a coat of skin-irritating hairs, may rather depend on their attitudes to spiders generally. The genus Bumba is itself new and also has musical connections. It was previously known as Maraca, but as that was already in use was changed to Bumba, referring to the Brazilian musical folk theatre form boi-bumbá (“hit my bull”). This creates other new species names: Bumba cabocla, and the very evocative Bumba horrida and Bumba pulcherrimaklaasi, the ‘Chilean metallic blue femur beauty’, whose appearance very much lives up to its name.
Fernando Perez-Miles et al. Zookeys
Enter the telomerator
Last year, Jef Boeke and colleagues synthesised from scratch a copy of yeast chromosome III, a landmark in synthetic biology. Their construction of synthetic biology tools continues with a proof-of-principle study describing the ‘telomerator’, a genetic construct that contains a homing endonuclease and functional telomere sequences, and can be used to linearise the circular chromosomes that make up a large proportion of genetic constructs. Testing shows that the chromosomes produced this way have apparently normal heterochromatin, and marker genes show differential expression depending on their position on the chromosome – such as the well-known ‘telomere positions effect’, where genes close to the telomere are silenced. This shows that the telomerator will be a useful tool for probing the effects of chromosome position on gene expression, and a quick and easy way to introduce artificial linear chromosomes into cells.
Mitchell and Boeke. PNAS
Predicting evolution
Is it possible to predict the evolutionary future of a population based on a sample of current genome sequences? Applied to viruses, such an ability could predict the course of disease outbreaks and allow appropriate vaccines to be prepared ahead of time. However, previously developed predictive models have always required either extensive historical data on a disease or a substantial understanding of the relationship between genotype and evolutionary ‘fitness’, neither of which is available for most viruses. A newly developed model looks to overcome these issues. The model uses reconstructions of the family tree of relationships between viruses to make predictions about the relative fitness of different strains and so the likely course of genetic evolution in the population. Crucially, the model requires neither detailed knowledge of what the genes actually do, nor any historical knowledge. The model has its own assumptions of course, most notably that evolution is driven by many small mutations, rather than a few major ones. However, when tested against historical trends in the evolution of the influenza virus, the model was able to meaningfully predict the actual mutational trends over time. The model, which suggests that viral evolution is more predictable than expected, could be used to inform development of future flu vaccines.
Neher et al. eLife
From thoughts to genes
This may be the experiment that sounds most like science fiction published in recent times. New research shows how, in the future, we may be able to control the expression of our genes by the power of our thoughts alone. In a demonstration of the technology, researchers engineered human cells that secrete an enzyme when exposed to near-infra red light. These cells were inserted into an implant with a permeable membrane through which nutrients can pass, and implanted into a mouse, along with an infra-red LED wirelessly powered by a field generator. The field generator was in turn controlled by a wearable EEG headset and a brain-computer interface. Trained human subjects could control the device by generating a specific mental state by biofeedback techniques, meditation or concentrating on a computer game. At present this is just a proof-of-concept experiment, but in theory could lead to devices that deliver drugs on command to patients with chronic pain, neurodegenerative diseases or ‘locked-in’ states.
Marc Folcher et al. Nature Communications
Spot the butterfly
Many butterfly species are notable for the large eyespot patterns on their wings. Their function is assumed to be in avoiding predation, either by startling or intimidating predators, or by causing them to aim attacks at a butterflies wings, rather than its vulnerable body. While substantial evidence exists for the first hypothesis, very little exists for the second. A new study provides support for this ‘deflection’ hypothesis by making use of an unusual polymorphism in the African butterfly Bicyclus anynana. The wing pattern of these butterflies depends on the environmental conditions experienced during larval development. Individuals developing during the cool dry season will have small, inconspicuous eyespots; those developing during the warmer wet season have large and prominent eyespots as adults. Both kinds of butterflies were placed in experimental arenas alongside Chinese mantids, a common butterfly predator. Wet season butterflies, with their large eyespots, survived for longer than the dry season variety; this was indeed because the mantids targeted the eyespots rather than the body, giving butterflies a chance to escape. Conversely, previous research has shown that eyespots reduce survival for Bicyclus anynana attacked by birds. It appears that this eyespot polymorphism is linked to changes in vertebrate and invertebrate predator densities between the wet and dry seasons; there are relatively more birds when it is dry (so it pays to be inconspicuous), more insect predators when it is wet (so fool them with your eyespots).
Prudic et al. Proceedings of the Royal Society B
Written by Christopher Foote, Executive Editor for the BMC Series, Kester Jarvis (@Kestererer), Senior Editor for BMC Biology, and Tim Sands, Executive Editor for the BMC Series.