Mitochondrial DNA bottleneck
A mother’s mix of mitochondrial DNA variants can change sharply between generations. What physical sampling process drives that change?
Molecular and cell biology
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Biomolecular condensate function
Cells concentrate molecules in membraneless compartments. What makes their changing composition and material behavior useful for particular tasks?
Mitotic spindle self-organization
Spindles organize filaments to separate chromosomes. How do chromosome-attached bundles integrate with the spindle’s collective organization?
Mammalian replication origins
Mammalian DNA replication can begin at many licensed sites. What determines which sites actually start copying in a given cell?
Granulophagy
Most stress granules disperse when stress ends. How does autophagy recognize and remove the granules that persist?
Mitochondrial gene retention
Mitochondria keep some genes while many others reside in the nucleus. Why do different lineages retain different sets?
Meiotic homologue recognition
During egg formation in fruit flies, matching chromosomes must find one another. How do repeated DNA sequences help them recognize a match?
Insect photoperiodic timing
Insects use day length to prepare for seasonal dormancy. How do daily clock signals become a seasonal decision?
Co-translational membrane-protein folding
How do α-helical membrane proteins fold while they are made, as sequence, synthesis and the surrounding membrane determine their route?
Non-photochemical quenching
Plants safely release excess absorbed light as heat. How does their light-harvesting machinery switch this protection on and off?
Polyploid establishment
A plant with extra chromosome sets may have few compatible mates. Which conditions let a new polyploid population persist?
Segregation Distorter mechanism
A selfish chromosome in fruit flies disables competing sperm. How does its genetic machinery cause that selective failure?
Gravity sensing in plants
Roots and shoots can tell which way gravity points. How do settling structures inside cells become a directional growth signal?
Speciation with gene flow
New species can diverge while exchanging genes. How do reproductive barriers combine to sustain separation?
Arbuscule maintenance
Does nutrient delivery by a fungal branch inside a root influence how long the plant maintains it?
Coral bleaching
Heat stress can disrupt the partnership between corals and their photosynthetic symbionts. Which cellular pathways cause symbiont loss in different conditions?
Nitrogenase catalytic mechanism
Nitrogenase converts nitrogen gas into ammonia that life can use. Which atomic reaction pathway accounts for its observed chemistry?
Spore hydration
Dormant bacterial spores take up water as they restart. Does GerAB provide a water route in Bacillus subtilis?
Oxytricha genome rearrangement
Oxytricha rebuilds its working genome from scrambled DNA segments. How do RNA instructions become correctly ordered DNA joins?
De novo gene birth
New protein-coding genes can arise from DNA that did not previously encode a protein. Which ones become useful and persist through evolution?
Malaria relapse
Plasmodium vivax can remain dormant in the liver before causing malaria again. What makes the parasite restart replication?
Endometriosis
Endometriosis involves lasting lesions outside the uterus. Which uterine-cell and immune changes help initiate them, rather than result from established disease?
Root hydrotropism
A root can curve toward a wetter patch of soil. What first tells its growing cells that one side has more available water than the other?
S-RNase specificity
A Petunia flower can stop its own pollen while accepting pollen with a different mating type. How does a small team of pollen proteins distinguish so many versions of the same toxic enzyme?