In unity, there is strength: Phase separation controls receptor tyrosine kinase signal transduction.

Lin et al. (2022) discover that FGFR2 undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation with its downstream effectors SHP2 and PLCγ1, and the formation of phase separated condensates is essential for signaling competency.

How do less-expensive nitrogen alternatives affect legume sanctions on rhizobia?

The evolutionary stability of mutualistic interactions involving multiple partners requires "sanctioning"-the ability to influence the fitness of each partner based on its respective contribution. Sanctions must be sensitive to even small differences if even slightly less-beneficial partners could gain a fitness advantage by diverting resources away from the mutualistic service toward their own reproductive fitness. Here, we test whether legume hosts sanction even mediocre N-fixing rhizobial strains by influencing either nodule growth (which limits rhizobial cell numbers) or carbon accumulation (polyhydroxybutryate or PHB) per rhizobial cell.