Article of the Year showcased some incredible research. Here, we celebrate four of our winning biological science authors, covering potential applications for mitigating plant decline, a foundation for future diagnostic developments in clinical settings using progesterone receptor immunohistochemistry, and advancements in classifying rhizobia species and highlighting the evolving role of taxonomy in both basic and applied microbiology. Plus, Authors Dr. Shamil I. Neamah, Florian Viehweger, Luisa Caroline Ferraz Helene, and Mariangela Hungria share insights into their work, highlighting challenges, opportunities, the potential impact on environmental sustainability and clinical diagnostics, and where they see biological sciences heading next.
1. Jump to the winning article from Analytical Cellular Pathology
2. Jump to the winning article from International Journal of Microbiology
3. Jump to the winning article from International Journal of Agronomy
1. ‘Diagnostic and Prognostic Impact of Progesterone Receptor Immunohistochemistry: A Study Evaluating More Than 16,000 Tumors’ by Florian Viehweger et. al.
This study published in Analytical Cellular Pathology was selected as an Article of the Year by the Chief Editor. The paper was chosen due to its’ high clinical relevance and potential impact, as the data helps us better understand the diagnostic utility of progesterone receptor (PR) and provides the foundation for future diagnostic development.
What is the article about?
This study examined progesterone receptor (PR) expression through immunohistochemistry in 18,176 samples across 147 tumor types. The findings include:
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Varying levels of progesterone receptor (PR) expression were identified across tumor types, with 57.4% positivity in breast tumors, 28.6% in other gynecological tumors, and 1.8% in non-gynecological and non-mammary tumors.
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Prior assumptions about PR distribution were challenged, particularly in tissues like the aortic wall, pancreatic islet cells, kidney, duodenum, adrenal gland, stroma cells of the urinary bladder, and salivary glands.
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The diagnostic potential of PR immunostaining was highlighted, especially in distinguishing neuroendocrine neoplasms originating from the pancreas.
Celebrating the author
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Florian Viehweger is a Medical Doctor at the Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. He has published over 30 papers, and his skills and expertise include surgical pathology, immunohistochemistry, histopathology, anatomic pathology, cytopathology, immunohistochemical staining, cancer diagnostics, histochemistry, and cytology.
We asked Dr. Florian Viehweger a couple of questions about the article.
What was the most interesting, challenging, or exciting aspect of working on this paper?
“The opportunity to clarify the diagnostic utility of a frequently used marker on an unprecedented number of clinical cases.”
What, in your opinion, is the next big opportunity or challenge in your field?
“Pathologists often use antibodies for which the staining properties in different tumor types are not exactly known, which poses a challenge. The characterization of antibody properties on large-scale tissue resources can provide a substantial benefit for IHC users.”
Read more about the diagnostic and prognostic impact of progesterone receptor immunohistochemistry in the article>>
Watch the video abstract>>
Discover the other selected cellular and molecular biology articles >>
2. ' New Insights into the Taxonomy of Bacteria in the Genomic Era and a Case Study with Rhizobia’ by Luisa Caroline Ferraz Helene, Milena Serenato Klepa, and Mariangela Hungria
This article published in the International Journal of Microbiology was chosen for Article of the Year by the Chief Editor due to the concisely reported technological advances used to classify and identify rhizobia species.
What is the article about?
The article describes the evolution of prokaryotes’ taxonomy until the genomic era, emphasizing bacteria and taking the history of rhizobia taxonomy as an example. It reports the technological advances and methodologies used to classify and identify bacterial species and indicates the actual rules required for an accurate description of new taxa. Key findings include:
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Good progress has been achieved in both prokaryote and rhizobia taxonomy and phylogeny. However, profound changes may arise with the genomic era.
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Robust taxonomic methodologies are becoming gradually available in an increasing number of laboratories, allowing researchers to conduct surveys of great interest.
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More studies are needed to correlate taxonomy with biotechnological properties of nitrogen-fixing rhizobia to improve their contribution to agricultural and environmental sustainability.
Celebrating the authors
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Dr. Luisa Caroline Ferraz Helene is a Postdoctoral Researcher at INCT – Embrapa Soja, with a PhD in Biotechnology and MSc in Microbiology. Her project focuses on microorganisms promoting plant growth aimed at agricultural sustainability and environmental responsibility. Her areas of interest are prokaryotes biodiversity and taxonomy, and plant growth promoting bacteria with an emphasis on BNF and rhizobia-legumes interactions.
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Dr. Mariangela Hungria is an Agronomic Engineer at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA). She has been an author on over 600 papers and has over 100,000 citations. She is currently coordinating and participating in projects based on the biodiversity of diazotrophic bacteria, culture collections, identification of bioindicators of soil quality, applied technologies of inoculation, inoculant production, strain selection, and more.
We asked Luisa Caroline Ferraz Helene and Mariangela Hungria a couple of questions about their article.
What was the most interesting, challenging, or exciting aspect of working on this paper?
Luisa: “It was really interesting to be able to build the timeline correlating the evolution of molecular biology tools and the evolution on rhizobia taxonomy.”
Mariangela: “Taxonomy used to be only part of basic science. But nowadays, it is also key for applied research, including industrial use. Therefore, knowing taxonomy has been mandatory for all microbiologists, from basic to applied science. The challenge in the review was to use a language that would be understood by all microbiologists, from basic to applied research”
What, in your opinion, is the next big opportunity or challenge in your field?
Louisa: “To organize and standardize all sequence information which are constantly being deposited in worldwide databases.”
Mariangela: “The use of biological inputs to replace chemicals in agriculture is impressively increasing. There is a huge opportunity for microbiologists and for agriculture sciences applied to microbiology”
Read more about the taxonomy of bacteria in the genomic era in the article >>
Discover the other selected environmental & agricultural science articles>>
3. ‘Positive Response of Hyoscyamus pusillus Callus Cultures to Exogenous Melatonin on Biochemical Traits and Secondary Metabolites under Drought Conditions’ by Shamil I. Neamah and Nisreen A. Jdayea.
This article published in the International Journal of Agronomy was selected as an Article of the Year by the Chief Editor. The Chief Editor chose this paper as it offers an interesting scientific window into the technical methodology for assessing drought tolerance and for addressing it in an environmentally-friendly way.
What is the article about?
This novel study investigates the impact of varying melatonin concentrations on H. pusillus calli cultures under both normal and drought stress conditions induced by PEG. Findings include:
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Drought stress negatively affects various traits.
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Melatonin treatment enhances antioxidant enzyme activity, improving tolerance to PEG and benefiting the plant's morphology, biomass, and physiological traits.
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There are potential applications for mitigating plant decline in the wild through in vitro production of secondary compounds and offer insights for enhancing drought tolerance in this plant species.
Celebrating the author
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Dr. Shamil Neamah is an Assistant Professor at the University of Anbar, Iraq. He has a PhD in Plant Tissue Culture and is Department Chairman of the Combat Desertification Center of Desert Studies, as well as Editor-in-Chief for Iraqi Journal of Desert Studies. His areas of expertise include plant tissue culture, drought stress, plant physiology, medicinal plants, secondary metabolites, bioactive natural products, and stress physiology.
We asked Dr. Shamil I. Neamah a couple of questions about the article.
What was the most interesting, challenging, or exciting aspect of working on this paper?
“The possibility of stimulating the plant cell's defence systems against external stress conditions”
What, in your opinion, is the next big opportunity or challenge in your field?
“Micropropagation of callus cultures and the study of changes at the molecular level”
Read more about assessing and addressing drought tolerance in the article >>
Discover the other selected environmental & agricultural science articles >>
This blog post is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY). Illustration by David Jury.