Coffee is the most common drink in the world, second only to water. This makes caffeine, the ingredient of coffee known for its wakefulness-promoting effects, one of the most used psychoactive substan...

The diversity of cultivated bananas remains partially unknown, whereas cultivars with suitable adaptive traits could address the drastically increasing biotic and abiotic constraints on banana product...

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Cacao genetic resources in Peru are largely uncharacterized. Knowledge of their genetic structure is needed for their conservation and use. Indigenous on-farm cacao trees (n = 390) from the Department...

Author summary Convergent evolution is the process whereby similar phenotypes evolve in response to common selection in independent lineages, providing strong evidence of adaptation in response to nat...

Highly plastic endocrine traits are thought to play a central role in allowing organisms to respond rapidly to environmental change. Yet, not all individuals display the same degree of plasticity in t...

The infant gut microbiome develops during the first years of life and influences long-term health through its interaction with immune system development. However, our understanding of early-life micro...

The environmental conditions on present‑day Mars are far outside the range tolerated by known complex terrestrial life. Conceptual climate studies have suggested that, in hypothetical terraforming…

Marine heatwaves and mass bleaching have devastated coral populations globally, yet bleaching severity often varies among reefs. To what extent a reef’s past exposure to heat stress influences coral b...

Background Polyandry is widespread throughout the animal kingdom. In the absence of direct benefits of mating with different males, the underlying basis for polyandry is enigmatic because it can carry...

Author summary Meiotic drivers, a class of selfish gene, are frequently located on sex chromosomes and have dramatic impacts on gamete development. However, our understanding of their molecular conseq...

Under the theme of Leading Transformation Together, the fourth edition of the World Biodiversity Forum WBF will take place from Sunday, 14 June to Friday, 19 June 2026 in Davos, Switzerland.

This blog was written by Daniel Parkes, Associate Editor in PLOS One. The ocean is a huge carbon sink, storing 30% of…

Explore innovative publishing models that support open science, enhance research transparency, and foster global collaboration in the evolving landscape of scholarly communication.

Explore experimental advances in growing crops on Mars, highlighting challenges and breakthroughs in soil compatibility, water management, and cultivation systems for future Martian agriculture.

This blog was written by Sarah Jose, Associate Editor in PLOS One. From fungal partnerships in maize to RNA signalling in phloem…

Stomata, the microscopic pores in the epidermis of plant leaves, facilitate gas exchange between the leaf interior and the external environment and thus play a pivotal role in the global carbon, water...

This interview and blog post was prepared by PLOS One Associate Editor Sarah Jose. Professor Mahmoud Yaish earned his Ph.D. in Biological…

Coffee is the most common drink in the world, second only to water. This makes caffeine, the ingredient of coffee known for its wakefulness-promoting effects, one of the most used psychoactive substan...

Researchers discovered that gut bacteria could travel to the brain via the vagus nerve in mice, offering clues to the gut-brain axis’ involvement in some neurological disorders.

The Global Plant Council is a coalition of plant, crop and enviromental science organizations seeking to develop plant science and its community at a global scale. https://globalplantcouncil.org/