A biogenic principle within the constructal law: The flow of information in biological systems.

The Constructal Law states that 'for a finite-size flow system to persist in time (to live) it must evolve such that it provides greater and greater access to the currents that flow through it.' Arising from thermodynamics, this illuminating principle explains the properties and design features of many physical systems. It is now proposed that the definition of 'currents that flow' within the Constructal Law should be recognized to include the flow of information in living systems as a biogenic corollary.

Francis Darwin (1848-1925): the biologist in the shadow of father Charles.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Sir Francis Darwin (1848-1925), the biologist/naturalist, musicologist, and biographer/philosopher of science in the shadow of father Charles (1809-1882). Francis was the seventh child and third son of the British couple. Here, we present a concise biography of Francis Darwin, based on his neglected "Recollections" published in his book (1920).

Plants have two minds as we do.

This discussion paper carefully analyzes the cognition-related theories proposed for behavioral economics, to expand the concepts from human behaviors to those of plants. Behavioral economists analyze the roles of the intuitive sense and the rational thoughts affecting the human behavior, by employing the psychology-based models such as Two Minds theory (TMT) highlighting intuitive rapid thoughts (System 1) and rational slower thoughts (System 2) and Prospect theory (PT) with probability ()-weighting functions explaining the human tendencies to overrate the low events and to underrate the high events. There are similarities between non-consciously processed System 1 (of TMT) and overweighing of low- events (as in PT) and also, between the consciously processed System 2 (of TMT) and underrating of high- events (as in PT).

Biological mechanisms contradict AI consciousness: The spaces between the notes.

The presumption that experiential consciousness requires a nervous system and brain has been central to the debate on the possibility of developing a conscious form of artificial intelligence (AI). The likelihood of future AI consciousness or devising tools to assess its presence has focused on how AI might mimic brain-centered activities. Currently, dual general assumptions prevail: AI consciousness is primarily an issue of functional information density and integration, and no substantive technical barriers exist to prevent its achievement.

Biology in the 21st century: Natural selection is cognitive selection.

Natural selection has a formal definition as the natural process that results in the survival and reproductive success of individuals or groups best adjusted to their environment, leading to the perpetuation of those genetic qualities best suited to that organism's environmental niche. Within conventional Neo-Darwinism, the largest source of those variations that can be selected is presumed to be secondary to random genetic mutations. As these arise, natural selection sustains adaptive traits in the context of a 'struggle for existence'.

Investigation of root skototropism with different distance settings.

Plants can activate protective and defense mechanisms under biotic and abiotic stresses. Their roots naturally grow in the soil, but when they encounter sunlight in the top-soil layers, they may move away from the light source to seek darkness. Here we investigate the skototropic behavior of roots, which promotes their fitness and survival.

Plant Signaling, Behavior and Communication.

Being sessile organisms that need to effectively explore space (above and below ground) and acquire resources through growth, plants must simultaneously consider multiple possibilities and wisely balance the energy they spend on growth with the benefits for survival [...

The sensual cell: Feeling and affect in unicellular species.

Our previous efforts to probe the complex, rich experiential lives of unicellular species have focused on the origins of consciousness (Reber, 2019) and the biomolecular processes that underlie sentience (Reber et al., 2023). Implied, but unexplored, was the assumption that these cognitive functions and associated unicellular organismal behaviors were linked with and often driven by affect, feelings, sensual experiences.

Why death and aging ? All memories are imperfect.

Recent papers have emphasized the primary role of cellular information management in biological and evolutionary development. In this framework, intelligent cells collectively measure environmental cues to improve informational validity to support natural cellular engineering as collaborative decision-making and problem-solving in confrontation with environmental stresses. These collective actions are crucially dependent on cell-based memories as acquired patterns of response to environmental stressors.

The CBC theory and its entailments : Why current models of the origin of consciousness fail.

The Cellular Basis of Consciousness (CBC) model of biological consciousness is based on the assumption that life and conscious sentience are coterminus. All living organisms, are conscious, self-aware, and have valenced sensory and perceptual experiences. [Image: see text]

Sentient cells as basic units of tissues, organs and organismal physiology.

Cells evolved some 4 billion years ago, and since then the integrity of the structural and functional continuity of cellular life has been maintained via highly conserved and ancient processes of cell reproduction and division. The plasma membrane as well as all the cytoplasmic structures are reproduced and inherited uninterruptedly by each of the two daughter cells resulting from every cell division. Although our understanding of the evolutionary emergence of the very first cells is obscured by the extremely long timeline since that revolutionary event, the generally accepted position is that the de novo formation of cells is not possible; all present cells are products of other prior cells.

The wall-associated kinase gene family in pea (Pisum sativum) and its function in response to B deficiency and Al toxicity.

Plant cell walls are embedded in a pectin matrix which is physically linked with the wall-associated kinases (WAKs), a subfamily of receptor-like kinases that participate in the cell wall integrity (CWI) sensing. Since cell walls are also the main binding sites for boron (B) and aluminum (Al), WAK may be potentially associated with the regulation of plant responses to Al toxicity and B deficiency. Using pea as a model species, we have identified a total of 28 WAK genes in the genome and named them according to its chromosomal location.

A revised central dogma for the 21st century: All biology is cognitive information processing.

Crick's Central Dogma has been a foundational aspect of 20th century biology, describing an implicit relationship governing the flow of information in biological systems in biomolecular terms. Accumulating scientific discoveries support the need for a revised Central Dogma to buttress evolutionary biology's still-fledgling migration from a Neodarwinian canon. A reformulated Central Dogma to meet contemporary biology is proposed: all biology is cognitive information processing.

PIN2/3/4 auxin carriers mediate root growth inhibition under conditions of boron deprivation in Arabidopsis.

The mechanistic basis by which boron (B) deprivation inhibits root growth via the mediation of root apical auxin transport and distribution remains elusive. This study showed that B deprivation repressed root growth of wild-type Arabidopsis seedlings, which was related to higher auxin accumulation (observed with DII-VENUS and DR5-GFP lines) in B-deprived roots. Boron deprivation elevated the auxin content in the root apex, coinciding with upregulation of the expression levels of auxin biosynthesis-related genes (TAA1, YUC3, YUC9, and NIT1) in shoots, but not in root apices.

Boron supply restores aluminum-blocked auxin transport by the modulation of PIN2 trafficking in the root apical transition zone.

The supply of boron (B) alleviates the toxic effects of aluminum (Al) on root growth; however, the mechanistic basis of this process remains elusive. This study filled this knowledge gap, demonstrating that boron modifies auxin distribution and transport in Al-exposed Arabidopsis roots. In B-deprived roots, treatment with Al induced an increase in auxin content in the root apical meristem zone (MZ) and transition zone (TZ), whereas in the elongation zone (EZ) the auxin content was decreased beyond the level required for adequate growth.

Algal Ocelloids and Plant Ocelli.

Vision is essential for most organisms, and it is highly variable across kingdoms and domains of life. The most known and understood form is animal and human vision based on eyes. Besides the wide diversity of animal eyes, some animals such as cuttlefish and cephalopods enjoy so-called dermal or skin vision.

Cellular sentience as the primary source of biological order and evolution.

All life is cellular, starting some 4 billion years ago with the emergence of the first cells. In order to survive their early evolution in the face of an extremely challenging environment, the very first cells invented cellular sentience and cognition, allowing them to make relevant decisions to survive through creative adaptations in a continuously running evolutionary narrative. We propose that the success of cellular life has crucially depended on a biological version of Maxwell's demons which permits the extraction of relevant sensory information and energy from the cellular environment, allowing cells to sustain anti-entropic actions.

Our sisters the plants? notes from phylogenetics and botany on plant kinship blindness.

Before the upheaval brought about by phylogenetic classification, classical taxonomy separated living beings into two distinct kingdoms, animals and plants. Rooted in 'naturalist' cosmology, Western science has built its theoretical apparatus on this dichotomy mostly based on ancient Aristotelian ideas. Nowadays, despite the adoption of the Darwinian paradigm that unifies living organisms as a kinship, the concept of the "scale of beings" continues to structure our analysis and understanding of living species.

CBC-Clock Theory of Life - Integration of cellular circadian clocks and cellular sentience is essential for cognitive basis of life.

Cellular circadian clocks represent ancient anticipatory systems which co-evolved with the first cells to safeguard their survival. Cyanobacteria represent one of the most ancient cells, having essentially invented photosynthesis together with redox-based cellular circadian clocks some 2.7 billion years ago.

An Antisense Circular RNA Regulates Expression of RuBisCO Small Subunit Genes in .

Circular RNA (circRNA) is a novel class of endogenous long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) and participates in diverse physiological process in plants. From the dataset obtained by high-throughput RNA sequencing, we identified a circRNA encoded by the sense strand of the exon regions spanning two RuBisCO small subunit genes, and , in . We further applied the single specific primer-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Sanger sequencing techniques to verify this circRNA and named it ( RNA ).

Barbara G. Pickard - Queen of Plant Electrophysiology.

Barbara Gillespie Pickard (1936-2019) studied plant electrophysiology and mechanosensory biology for more than 50 y. Her first papers on the roles of auxin in plant tropisms were coauthored with Kenneth V. Thimann.

Potential Plant-Plant Communication Induced by Infochemical Methyl Jasmonate in Sorghum ().

Despite the fact that they are sessile organisms, plants actively move their organs and also use these movements to manipulate the surrounding biotic and abiotic environments. Plants maintain communication with neighboring plants, herbivores, and predators through the emission of diverse chemical compounds by their shoots and roots. These infochemicals modify the environment occupied by plants.

Biomolecular Basis of Cellular Consciousness via Subcellular Nanobrains.

Cells emerged at the very beginning of life on Earth and, in fact, are coterminous with life. They are enclosed within an excitable plasma membrane, which defines the outside and inside domains via their specific biophysical properties. Unicellular organisms, such as diverse protists and algae, still live a cellular life.