Cover Photograph: Upper left: Simultaneous induction of ureagenesis and gluconeogenesis coincides with a corticosterone surge occurring prior to metamorphosis in Xenopus laevis (see Konno, pp. 6–15). Upper right: Transverse sections of the tibiofibula at Gosner stage 42 (top panels), of Xenopus tropicalis (left) and Ceratophrys cranwelli (right); Ca: cartilage, CB: cortical bone, Mu: muscle. Bottom panels show adult frogs (see Kondo et al. pp. 16–22). Lower left: Maea knockdown interferes with head formation. Wild type (top) and morphant phenotypes with small eyes (middle) and no eyes (bottom) are shown (see Goto et al. pp. 29–36). Lower right: ChIP-seq analyses of target genes of thyroid hormone receptors (TR) in tail, hindlimb and intestine in tadpoles during Xenopus metamorphosis. Venn diagrams show much fewer TR-bound genes in TRa-knockout X. tropicalis frogs compared to wild type (see Tanizaki et al. pp. 23–28).
Cover Image An infl orescence of Clerodendrum izuinsulare (left) and C. trichotomum (right). Photos by Natsuki Aihara in Niijima Island (left) and by Takashi Miyake in Izu Peninsula (right), Japan. Miyake et al., doi.org/10.1111/1442-1984.12287
Cover Image The pistillate-phase flowers of Artabotrys (Annonaceae): A. blumei (left) and A. brachypetalus (right). Photos by Junhao Chen, taken in Hong Kong and South Africa, respectively (DOI: 10.1111/1442-1984.12273 ).
Jackson County, Illinois, U.S.A., Photo by Nathan Soley (right) Champaign County, Illinois, U.S.A., Photo by Nathan Soley (left) Soley and Sipes “Reproductive biology and pollinators of the invasive shrub Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata Thunberg)”. https://doi.org/10.1111/1442-1984.12307
Left: Isodon shikokianus and Bombus diversus Right: Isodon shikokianus and Bombus honshuensis Both Photos by Ikumi Dohzono at Mt. Hyonosen, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Ogishima, M., Hoshino, Y., Horie, S., Yamashiro, T., Maki, M., Suzuki, K., & Dohzono, I. (2022). Secondary contact and adaptation to local pollinator assemblages mediate geographical variation in corolla length in Isodon shikokianus. Plant Species Biology, 222–230. https://doi.org/10.1111/1442-1984.12370
A tidal pool dinoflagellate, Chiharadinium hexapraecingulum (T. Horiguchi & Chihara) Dawut & T. Horiguchi gen. & comb. nov. Upper row: Light micrographs of lateral view, ventral view, epifluorescence micrograph of motile cells and scanning electron micrograph of apical view of a cell. Lower row: Scanning electron micrographs of ventral view, left lateral view and antapical view of motile cells. Establishment of a new genus Chiharadinium is reported by Dawut et al. in this issue.
Photographs of Kulikovskiyia triundulata gen. et sp. nov. along with holotypic locality. Upper left: Photograph of the holotypic locality (lateritic rocky plateau of Maharashtra, India). Upper middle: Live cell showing chloroplast structure in valve view. Upper right: DIC image of a frustule in valve view. Lower: SEM image of the external valve showing peripheral and apical spines, siliceous slats and tri‐undulate valve shape. See Roy et al. in this issue. Cover picture from: Article link here
A Orobanche boninsimae and its visitors, Japanese white-eyes (Zosterops japonicus). Photo by Akihiro Nishimura at Chichijima Island, the Bonin Islands, Japan. Nishimura & Takayama (2023) “First record of potential bird pollination in the holoparasitic genus Orobanche L.” Plant Species Biology, 6–17 https://doi.org/10.1111/1442-1984.12389
Lake Inle, a pristine lake in Myanmar, is known to harbor a number of endemic aquatic species and is a home to an enigmatic cyanobacterium Oscillatoria kawamurae, which was first reported in Lake Biwa (Japan). Macroscopic trichome (upper left), microscopic image (upper middle). Photos by Phong San (Lake Inle) and Nanda Kyaw Thu (O. kawamurae). See Thu et al. in this issue. Cover picture from: Article link here
Leptocereus santamarinae. In Herradura beach in Las Tunas Province. Photo by Duniel Barrios. Flores et al. https://esj-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1442-1984.12334 (right) Echinocereus enneacanthus (Cactaceae). Spring of 2020, Mapimi Biosphere Reserve, Southern Chihuahuan Desert, Durango, Mexico. Photo by José Antonio Aranda-Pineda. Aranda-Pineda et al. https://esj-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1442-1984.12329 (left)
Peptoids belong to a class of sequence-controlled polymers containing N-alkylglycine units. Ren et al. use tandem mass spectrometry to characterize the fragmentation patterns of some singly and doubly protonated peptoids with one basic residue at different positions. Upon collision-induced dissociation, a charged peptoid dissociates into two sets of charged fragments: B-ions, containing the N-terminal residue (structure on the left); and Y-ions, containing the C-terminal residue (structure on the right). The Y-ions are of higher abundance than the B-ions, revealing that the C-terminal fragments have a higher affinity toward the charge carrier, the proton. (DOI: 10.1002/bip.23358 )
CRISPR-Cas9 system with PEG-mediated transfection was efficient for genome editing in Ulva prolifera. U. prolifera (left) and male gametes (middle). Wild type (upper right) and the genome-edited strain (lower right) cultured in 2-FA selection medium, and each mutation site on the APT gene. See Ichihara et al. in this issue.
Cover Image Tulipa pumila. This photo was taken by Sandro Pratesi at Doccino at the municipality of Riparbella, province of Pisa, Tuscany, Italy (DOI: 10.1111/1442-1984.12267 ).
This work studied two-photon collagen crosslinking (CXL) in human corneal lenticules induced by near infrared femtosecond laser, possessing the advantages of multiphoton absorption and near-infrared light. The corneal stiffness can be enhanced by up to 296% without significantly reducing corneal transparency (<3%), paving the way to treat ophthalmic disorders such as keratoconus by 3D CXL of in vivo human cornea with higher safety, precision and efficacy. Further details can be found in the article by Zhenzhou Cheng, Nan Zhang, Le Chang, Pengfei Qi, Lin Zhang, Lie Lin, Yan Wang, and Weiwei Liu ( e202200160 ).
An optical fan was demonstrated to screen leukemia cells from the blood sample at the single‐cell level in a noninvasive and noncontact manner. Further details can be found in the article by Xiaoshuai Liu, Yuchao Li, Xiaohao Xu, Yao Zhang, Baojun Li ( e201900155 ).
Cover Image Telipogon peruvianus is a highly restricted Neotropical orchid species, endemic to the southern Peruvian Andes. It is only known from two localities, which are affected by anthropogenic disturbance. The present study investigated whether the restricted distribution of T. peruvianus has led to low genetic diversity and inbreeding, thus threatening its survival. https://doi.org/10.1111/1442-1984.12291
Beautiful underwater view of an edible brown alga, Sargassum fusiforme (Fucales, Phaeophyceae) at the rocky shore in Sakurajima, Kagoshima, Japan (Photo by Ryuta Terada). Characteristic responses of the PSII photochemical efficiency on desiccation and salinity gradients in S. fusiforme are reported by Yonemori et al. in this issue.
The detection of colon cancer by using Poincaré sphere and 2D polarimetric imaging approach. Further details can be found in the article by Deyan Ivanov, Viktor Dremin, Alexander Bykov, Ekaterina Borisova, et al. ( e202000082 ).
