Key message This eight-founder MAGIC population represents a powerful resource for dissecting complex traits in maize, assessing the utility of drought proxy traits, and optimizing low-coverage whole-genome sequencing approaches. Abstract Securing sustainable crop production requires the genetic improvement of abiotic stress tolerance. Due to the broad range of environmental factors causing abiotic stress and complex genotype-...

Symbiotic relationships between microbes and hosts frequently involve the assembly of complex microbial communities. Community‐level patterns influence life‐history traits, ecological trajectories of partners, and are often critical for host health. These patterns are driven by mechanisms acting at the individual level, including microbial dispersal, host selection, and microbe–resource interactions. Critically, we still lack...

Human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CM) cultured in the presence of retinoic acid were proposed as a model for human atrium. Since in the human heart positive inotropic effects of serotonin (5-HT) are restricted to the atrium, we investigated whether the presence of 5-HT responses may distinguish between hiPSC-atrial and ventricular CM. Nonfiltered retinoic acid (1 µM) was used to induce an atrial...

Sex-related differences in cardiac electrophysiology are well established in the ventricle and have reached textbook level. In contrast, our understanding of sex effects in the human atrium remains limited, despite clear clinical observations such as the lower incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in women. In this review, we summarize sex differences and discuss potential reasons for the imbalance in knowledge, including the...

The Arctic is currently warming at up to four times the global average. Likewise, climate variability within and across seasons is predicted to markedly increase in the future. This may challenge organisms in these pristine environments, making it critically important to understand their thermal biology and evolutionary potential. For Arctic ectotherms in particular, thermal tolerance limits and responses to climate change are...

The skeleton of the small artiodactyl Masillabune martini Tobien 1980 is a typical example of the mammalian skeletons excavated by private collectors in the famous Messel-Fossillagerstätte in 1970 s, long before the locality became a World Heritage Site. Although the skeleton was found during a private excavation by Thomas Martin, the well-preserved skeleton eventually found its way to a public museum, the Hessisches Landesmus...

Incorporating macroalgae like Ulva species into integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) enhances sustainability by filtering effluents and provide epiphytic bacteria, that can contribute to disease prevention. Colonizing Ulva ohnoi with Phaeobacter sp. 4UAC3 is promising for disease control in IMTA systems, but high light intensity impacts Phaeobacter ’s persistence on Ulva . This study investigated the effect of different...

In Hannover, Germany, a deep borehole was drilled to explore the use of geothermal energy for the heat supply of office buildings. The targets are multiple subdivided sandstone horizons of the Wealden formation (Lower Cretaceous) at a depth of 1200–1300 m and a temperature of around 70 °C. The technical feasibility of the doublet operation is assessed by numerically investigating the effects of well spacing, injection/producti...

The Messel Pit is a Konservat-Lagerstätte in Germany, representing the deposits of a latest early to earliest middle Eocene maar lake, and one of the first palaeontological sites to be included on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One aspect of Messel that makes it so extraordinary is that its sediments are rich in different fossilised organisms – microfossils, plants, fungi, invertebrate animals and vertebrates – that...

Deep-time (=pre-Quaternary) maar lakes and certain other, hydrologically deep volcanogenic lakes, are often excellent Konservat-Lagerstätten representing unique windows into past biota and ecosystems. Many deposits from such lakes contain animal and plant remains in extraordinary preservation, often with soft tissues or fine morphological and anatomical details preserved. Such Lagerstätten have the potential to provide in-dept...

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are increasing in frequency, duration and intensity, disrupting global marine ecosystems. While most reported impacts have been in tropical areas, New Zealand experienced its strongest and longest MHW in 2022, profoundly affecting marine sponges. Sponges are vital to rocky benthic marine communities, with their abundance influencing ecosystem functioning. This study examines the impact of this MHW on th...

The range‐expansion of tropical herbivores due to ocean warming can profoundly alter temperate reef communities by overgrazing the seaweed forests that underpin them. Such ecological interactions may be mediated by changes to seaweed‐associated microbiota in response to warming, but empirical evidence demonstrating this is rare. We experimentally simulated ocean warming and marine heatwaves (MHWs) to quantify effects on two do...

Different marine seaweed species have been shown to harbour specific bacterial communities, however, the extent to which vertical symbiont transmission from parents to offspring contributes to host‐specificity is unclear. Here we use fluorescence and electron microscopy as well as 16S rRNA gene‐based community analysis to investigate symbiont transmission in members of the three major seaweed groups (green Chlorophyta , red Rh...

Interspecific interactions in biofilms have been shown to cause the emergence of community‐level properties. To understand the impact of interspecific competition on evolution, we deep‐sequenced the dispersal population of mono‐ and co‐culture biofilms of two antagonistic marine bacteria ( Phaeobacter inhibens 2.10 and Pseudoalteromononas tunicata D2). Enhanced phenotypic and genomic diversification was observed in the P. tuni...