Symmetry/Asymmetry in Life Sciences: Feature Papers 2024

A special issue of Symmetry (ISSN 2073-8994). This special issue belongs to the section "Life Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 May 2024 | Viewed by 1768

Special Issue Editor

Department of Biology, Berry College, Mount Berry, GA 30149, USA
Interests: fluctuating asymmetry; developmental instability; evolutionary genetics; hybrid zones; community ecology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Symmetry is invariant under some mathematical transformations, such as reflection, rotation, or translation. It may occur in three-dimensional space, as in the symmetrical geometry of organisms or molecules. Symmetry in time, though, is a fourth dimension, including symmetrical enzymatic reactions for example, and animal and human behaviors. Symmetry in additional dimensions is a possibility as well. Symmetries may also be symmetries of scale, such as fractals in nature and art.

Symmetries are often broken, and these are subject to study. Upon fertilization, for example, a spherical oocyte undergoes a series of broken symmetries, culminating in an adult organism that is no longer spherically symmetrical. Broken symmetry also arises in the molecules of life. Deoxyribonucleic acid undergoes a conformational change that breaks helical symmetry during the processes of replication and translation.

Prof. Dr. John H. Graham
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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24 pages, 2695 KiB  
Article
Implicit and Explicit Preferences for Golden Ratio
by Claudia Salera, Camilla Vallebella, Marco Iosa and Anna Pecchinenda
Symmetry 2024, 16(3), 333; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym16030333 - 09 Mar 2024
Viewed by 509
Abstract
The golden ratio, also known as Phi (ϕ ≈ 1.618034), attracted the interest of mathematicians, artists, and intellectuals for many centuries, probably from when it was discovered in human anthropometry. Even in recent times, researchers found the presence of the golden ratio in [...] Read more.
The golden ratio, also known as Phi (ϕ ≈ 1.618034), attracted the interest of mathematicians, artists, and intellectuals for many centuries, probably from when it was discovered in human anthropometry. Even in recent times, researchers found the presence of the golden ratio in Renaissance paintings and aesthetic preferences. The reasons behind the fascination with the golden ratio remain unclear, but it has been suggested that stimuli containing this proportion are often perceived as beautiful. However, evidence is conflicting, and the literature struggles to establish the existence of individual preferences for the golden ratio. To gain new insights into the nature of these preferences, one hundred participants completed an implicit association task, with either golden ratio or random stimuli presented with positive or negative words. Participants initially categorized the stimuli based on their assigned categories. Then, we assessed their explicit preferences by asking them to rate the stimuli in terms of pleasantness and by completing a line bisection task and the Ultimatum Game. The results revealed the typical effects observed in implicit association tasks, with improved response times and accuracy when golden ratio stimuli were associated with positive word categories. In contrast, explicit ratings yielded mixed results. We discuss our findings in relation to previous studies that have explored this issue, highlighting the ongoing debate surrounding preferences for the golden ratio. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Symmetry/Asymmetry in Life Sciences: Feature Papers 2024)
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Review

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19 pages, 6404 KiB  
Review
Striped Expression of Leucine-Rich Repeat Proteins Coordinates Cell Intercalation and Compartment Boundary Formation in the Early Drosophila Embryo
by Chloe A. Kuebler and Adam C. Paré
Symmetry 2023, 15(8), 1490; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym15081490 - 27 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 863
Abstract
Planar polarity is a commonly observed phenomenon in which proteins display a consistent asymmetry in their subcellular localization or activity across the plane of a tissue. During animal development, planar polarity is a fundamental mechanism for coordinating the behaviors of groups of cells [...] Read more.
Planar polarity is a commonly observed phenomenon in which proteins display a consistent asymmetry in their subcellular localization or activity across the plane of a tissue. During animal development, planar polarity is a fundamental mechanism for coordinating the behaviors of groups of cells to achieve anisotropic tissue remodeling, growth, and organization. Therefore, a primary focus of developmental biology research has been to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying planar polarity in a variety of systems to identify conserved principles of tissue organization. In the early Drosophila embryo, the germband neuroectoderm epithelium rapidly doubles in length along the anterior-posterior axis through a process known as convergent extension (CE); it also becomes subdivided into tandem tissue compartments through the formation of compartment boundaries (CBs). Both processes are dependent on the planar polarity of proteins involved in cellular tension and adhesion. The enrichment of actomyosin-based tension and adherens junction-based adhesion at specific cell-cell contacts is required for coordinated cell intercalation, which drives CE, and the creation of highly stable cell-cell contacts at CBs. Recent studies have revealed a system for rapid cellular polarization triggered by the expression of leucine-rich-repeat (LRR) cell-surface proteins in striped patterns. In particular, the non-uniform expression of Toll-2, Toll-6, Toll-8, and Tartan generates local cellular asymmetries that allow cells to distinguish between cell-cell contacts oriented parallel or perpendicular to the anterior-posterior axis. In this review, we discuss (1) the biomechanical underpinnings of CE and CB formation, (2) how the initial symmetry-breaking events of anterior-posterior patterning culminate in planar polarity, and (3) recent advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms downstream of LRR receptors that lead to planar polarized tension and junctional adhesion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Symmetry/Asymmetry in Life Sciences: Feature Papers 2024)
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