April 30, 2026
The repeated evolution of similar phenotypes, or convergent evolution, is widespread in nature, but there are few studies investigating the genetic mechanisms across wide evolutionary timescales. Yacine Ben Chehida, Eva van der Heijden, Edward Page, Kanchon Dasmahapatra, Joana Meier and colleagues explore convergent wing pattern evolution across highly divergent Lepidopteran lineages and report parallel genetic reuse, indicating strong constraints and high predictability in evolutionary outcomes.
Image credit: Alex P Arias-Cruz
04/30/2026
Research Article
Although adoption of novel food is vital to colonisation of novel environments, social learning about novel food types is not well studied. This study of urban sulphur crested cockatoos, by Julia Penndorf, Lucy Aplin and co-workers, shows that they rapidly adopted a novel food through social learning, with juveniles (but not adults) showing conformist preferences.
Image credit: Julia Penndorf
04/28/2026
Research Article
Bacteriophages infecting Klebsiella pneumoniae show capsule specificity that strongly shapes host range, yet its basis in temperate phages is unclear. Aleksandra Otwinowska, Janusz Koszucki, Zuzanna Drulis-Kawa, Rafal Mostowy and co-authors reveal diverse prophage-encoded receptor-binding enzymes, including esterases, that drive capsule tropism and are validated across 119 Klebsiella capsule types.
Image credit: pbio.3003716
04/28/2026
Short Reports
Arboviruses are mosquito-borne viruses that induce acute lytic infection in humans, but how do they establish persistent infections in their mosquito vectors without compromising host cell viability? Marc Talló-Parra, Mireia Puig-Torrents, Juana Díez and colleagues show that persistent arbovirus infection is maintained by limiting viral protein synthesis through repression of viral RNA translation.
Image credit: pbio.3003702
04/27/2026
Research Article
RNA chaperone Hfq is known to assemble into biomolecular condensates in response to stress in E.coli, but what leads to Hfq’s phase separation? Jian Guan, Lydia Freddolino, Ursula Jakob and co-workers show that polyphosphate scaffolds the formation of condensates with Hfq, which then sequester and selectively stabilize polyadenylated transcripts.
Image credit: pbio.3003775
04/27/2026
Short Reports
Why do humans exhibit a striking and near-universal population-level right-hand preference? This study of 41 anthropoid species, by Thomas Püschel, Rachel Hurwitz and Chris Venditti, reveals Homo sapiens as an evolutionary outlier and identifies bipedalism and brain expansion as likely key drivers of human lateralization.
Image credit: pbio.3003771
04/27/2026
Research Article
Termites produce a diverse array of more than 200 terpenoids, but how are these biosynthesized? Natan Horáček, Robert Hanus, Jitka Štáfková and co-authors reveal that a termite-specific expansion of the geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate synthase gene family has generated terpene synthases capable of making the queen pheromone (3R,6E)-nerolidol and precursors of polycyclic defensive diterpenes.
Image credit: pbio.3003648
04/22/2026
Community Page
Cilia dysfunction is implicated in a range of disorders. This Community Page presents CiliaKB, a knowledge base that serves as a one-stop platform for researchers to rapidly access mechanistic data and mine for translational clues about cilia.
Image credit: Donghui Zhang
04/21/2026
Essay
In this Essay, the evolution of life is construed as a ribosomal takeover, whereby the ribosome evolved to consume most of the cell’s resources, while other cellular componentry ensured the propagation of the ribosome, the ultimate biological selfish element.
Image credit: pbio.3003780
04/20/2026
Perspective
Equal contribution designations are on the rise, yet this information is routinely lost, creating inequity in recognition and crediting. This Perspective calls for improvements in transferring this information to indexing sites such as PubMed.
Image credit: Roli Roberts
04/16/2026
Consensus View
Evidence-based solutions are needed to help improve reproducibility in research. This Consensus View presents a consensus-based list of core reproducibility items for research.
Image credit: pbio.3003726
This PLOS Biology collection aims to shine a light on the many facets of immunometabolism, highlighting how molecular and cellular mechanisms impact diverse tissue and organismal functions and the exciting potential for leveraging immunometabolism for therapeutic interventions.
Recent technological advancements in omics have unveiled the mechanisms governing tumor progression across spatial and temporal scales. This collection reveals the complexities of the crosstalk between cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment.
Neurotechnology offers unprecedented opportunities to treat neural disorders, restore brain function and enhance cognitive abilities. This collection explores the present and possible futures of neurotechnology to improve human health and cognition.
Translating conservation and biodiversity research from the field into the real world is a complex problem. This collection discusses issues around economics, policy, and how to do research that answers questions that decision makers have.
Symbiosis research has become a holistic and pervasive field with a mature theoretical basis. This collection showcases symbiotic relationships across the tree of life, exploring their evolutionary basis and underlying mechanisms.
May 5 - 7
Meet Editor in Chief Nonia Pariente (npariente@plos.org)
May 11 - 15
Meet Associate Editor Melissa Vazquez Hernandez (mvazquezhernandez@plos.org)
May 18 - 22
Meet Senior Editor Ines Alvarez-Garcia (ialvarez-garcia@plos.org)
June 3 - 5
Meet Editor in Chief Nonia Pariente (npariente@plos.org)
June 8 - 11
Meet Magazine Senior Editor Joanna Clarke (jclarke@plos.org)