Browse Articles

Mediators of plant immunity, such as salicylic acid, are produced in the chloroplasts, but the molecular link between chloroplasts and the immune system is unclear. This work finds that pathogen-associated molecular pattern signals are relayed to chloroplasts and evoke Ca²⁺signatures in the stroma.

Mutation, selection and random drift determine evolutionary dynamics and can give rise to polymorphisms. Here, an evolutionary game model, in which each new mutation generates a new evolutionary game, is applied to study the emergence of polymorphism, resulting in higher diversity than seen in previous models.

Graphene's remarkable properties make it ideal for optoelectronic devices, and its two-dimensional nature enables its integration with photonic structures. By combining a graphene transistor with a planar microcavity, Engelet al. control the spectrum of the photocurrent and the light emitted by the device.

Spin ice is a state of matter that occurs in certain rare earth magnets with a pyrochlore structure. Here it is shown theoretically that, in conjunction with the magnetic monopoles observed in previous experiments, spin ice can also host electric dipoles.

Expanded alkali fullerides are molecular superconductors with a Mott parent insulating state. Kluppet al.use infrared spectroscopy to detect the molecular Jahn–Teller distortion of fulleride ions and establish its relevance to strongly correlated superconductivity.

Chromatin in embryonic stem cells is present in an open state presumably to facilitate gene expression changes required for pluripotency and subsequent multilineage differentiation. This study describes roles for lamin A, histone acetylation and G9a-mediated histone H3 lysine 9 methylation in regulating chromatin plasticity in these cells.

PTEN is a tumour suppressor that inhibits activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway. These authors show that PTEN is SUMOylated on two lysine residues and that this modification is required for binding to acidic phospholipids and blocking tumour formation in mice.

The transport of anions across bilayer membranes is achieved by ion channel proteins, but some small molecules are also able to mediate transmembrane movement of anions. In this study, the halogen bonding of small perfluorinated molecules is shown to allow the transmembrane movement of anions.

A common post-translational modification is the attachment of sugars, but proteins with different sugar chains, known as glycoforms, are hard to distinguish. Here, the authors use transmembrane fluorescence resonance energy transfer to visualize specific glycoforms of the membrane protein GLUT4 in living cells.

Nanocrystal quantum dots can exhibit photoluminescence blinking, where the intensity of the emitted light fluctuates due to random charging and discharging. Gallandet al.study thick shell nanocrystals and find that the photoluminescence lifetime can also undergo blinking, without intensity changes.

In the fruit flyDrosophila, changes in expression of circadian clock genes are believed to control eclosion. Morioka and colleagues show that transcriptional oscillations of the clock gene, period, in prothoracic gland cells are amplified by photic inputs from the central nervous system.

Ultrasmall clusters of atoms form the building blocks of many nanoscale materials. Using a combination of aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy and numerical simulations, this study uncovers the geometry of these clusters in three dimensions.

Understanding hydrogen diffusion in metals is a challenge because of limited access to spatial evolution of the concentration profiles. Using time- and spatially resolved optical measurements, Palssonet al. determine the diffusion rate of hydrogen by directly monitoring its transit through a vanadium thin film.

Nitrogen-doped fullerenes and carbon nanotubes have been produced, but the synthesis of nitrogen-doped buckybowls, is an unsolved challenge. Tanet al. report an enantioselective synthesis of triazasumanene, and show that nitrogen doping leads to deeper bowl structures than in all-carbon buckybowls.

In several Hymenoptera species - ants, bees and wasps - sexual fate is determined by the allelic composition at the complementary sex - determiner locus. This study identifies the honeybeecomplementary sex - determinerin bumble bee and ant orthologues, previously thought to be unique to the honeybee lineage.

Nucleic acid superstructures are required to package genomes into the nucleus of cells. In this study, the superstructure of an RNA supercoil species is reported and is shown to be dependent on an RNA-binding protein that induces a higher level of organization compared with DNA superstructures.

Beringian mammoths were abundant 45,000 to 30,000 years ago, but then experienced a long decline in concert with changes in climate, habitat and human presence. This study uses¹⁴C dating to trace their spatio temporal pattern of extinction until the loss of final island populations about 4,000 years ago.

Ink-jet printing methods are an attractive approach to nanofabrication, where electrohydrodynamic control allows for flexible and cheap fabrication. Here, a new approach is presented using electrostatic nanodroplet autofocussing to produce high aspect ratio nanoscale structures like plasmonic nanoantennas.

Magnetometers based on organic magnetoresistance are limited by narrow sensitivity ranges, degradation and temperature fluctuations. Bakeret al. demonstrate a magnetic resonance-based organic thin film magnetometer, which overcomes these drawbacks by exploiting the metrological nature of magnetic resonance.

Synaptic GTPase-activating protein, SynGAP, is a postsynaptic signalling protein that can regulate synaptic function. McMahonet al. express different SynGAP isoforms in neurons and find that the effect on synaptic strength depends on alternative promoter usage and alternative splicing of the C-terminus.