Articles in 2015

Dynamics of the Laurasian Seaway are thought to have had wide effects on oceanography and climate in the mid-Mesozoic. Here, the authors show evidence for seawater temperature change, ascribed to tectonic uplift that impeded poleward oceanic heat transport and triggered a cool climate mode in the earliest Middle Jurassic.

Availability of computing power can limit computational analysis of large genetic and genomic datasets. Here, Canela-Xandri, et al. describe a software called DISSECT that is capable of analyzing large-scale genetic data by distributing the work across thousands of networked computers.

Acceptorless dehydrogenation of simple alkanes and alcohols provides useful functionality and typically requires precious metal catalysts. Here, the authors dehydrogenate unactivated alkanes and alcohols at room temperature using earth-abundant metals with hydrogen as the sole by-product.

Phase transformations in nanoparticles can have a large effect on the performance of electrochemical devices and are strongly determined by parameters such as surface energy and faceting. Here, the authors study the hydriding phase transformation in individual palladium nanocubes and uncover individual structure-function relationships.

Slow-dividing ‘loser’ cells are outcompeted by more robust ‘winner’ cells and eliminated by macrophage-like haemocytes in the fruit fly larva. Here the authors show that the dying loser cells secrete the enzyme Tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase that upon Mmp2-mediated cleavage acts as a haemocyte chemoattractant.

Long intervening noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) are an emerging class of molecular regulators with diverse functions. Here the authors identify Linc-YY1, a novel lincRNA transcribed from the noncoding region of the mouse YY1 gene, that binds to YY1 protein and thereby regulates skeletal muscle differentiation and regeneration.

The mushroom bodies (MBs) in an insect brain integrate and process sensory information. Using fully sequenced/inbred lines of the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel, this study performs genome wide association analyses and identifies candidate genes affecting MB size, and uses RNAi to functionally validate the identified loci.

Table-top laser-plasma ion accelerators have many potential applications, but achieving simultaneous narrow energy spread and high efficiency remains a challenge. Here, the authors produce ion beams with up to 18 MeV per nucleon whilst keeping the energy spread reduced through a self-organized process.

Chemotherapeutic agents elicit ER and oxidative stress as part of their mode of action. Here the authors show that chemotherapy and ER stress trigger MGST2-based biosynthesis of LTC₄, whose inhibition abolishes chemotherapy- and ER stress-triggered oxidative stress and DNA damage, resulting in the attenuation of cell death.

Triboelectric nanogenerators utilize triboelectrification for harvesting energy from ambient mechanical motions. Here, the authors report an integrated triboelectric nanogenerator system using only human biomechanical energy to generate mW-level DC electricity that is enough to continuously drive various commercial mobile electronics.

Bacterial type III secretion systems (T3SSs) inject virulence effector proteins into eukaryotic cells and are activated by host membrane contact. Here the authors report the in situ structure of the Chlamydia trachomatisT3SS in the presence or absence of host membrane, and observe compaction of the basal body embedded in the bacterial envelope.

Most electrostatic actuators suffer from an operational instability, the so-called pull-in effect. Here, the authors report an electrostatic actuator concept which makes the huge electrostatic forces within nanometre small electrode separation accessible for large deflections.

Neuregulin-1 and DISC1 signalling pathways have both been linked to neurodevelopment and schizophrenia. Here, Seshadri et al. demonstrate that DISC1 negatively regulates NRG1-induced ErbB4 signalling in adult cortical interneurons both in vitro and in vivo, possibly via competitive binding to PSD95.

Renewables are key for abating climate change, but also potentially vulnerable to it. Here, the authors show that the power supply from a well-developed European fleet of photovoltaic installations may undergo decreases during the 21st century, but with limited changes in amplitude and temporal stability.

The long-term quantification of the Angulas Leakage is difficult due to its highly variable spatio-temporal nature and sparse observations. Here, the authors combine sea surface temperature with a series of ocean and climate model simulations to construct a 145-year long time series of Agulhas leakage.

'Digital' spike-evoked transmission can be facilitated by slow subthreshold 'analogue' depolarisation of the presynaptic neuron. Here, the authors identify a novel, rapid form of digital-analogue facilitation in mammalian neurons whereby presynaptic hyperpolarisation enables de-inactivation of axonal Nav channels.

Programed cell death occurs in a stereotypic fashion duringC. elegansdevelopment, and it is thought that engulfment promotes programmed cell death. Here the authors present evidence that a signaling function of the conserved engulfment pathways, not the process of engulfment itself, promotes apoptotic cell death.

Measurements of biodiversity may differ according to the extent of area sampled, although how this changes across taxa is not well understood. Here, Schuldtet al. find that the diversity of plants, arthropods and microorganisms in a heterogeneous subtropical forest is highly nonlinear across spatial scales.

The protein LAMP2 functions to protect lysosomal membranes from acid proteolysis. In this study, the authors show that malignant cells adapt to the acidic tumour microenvironment by redirecting LAMP2 from lysosomes to the plasma membrane.

Little is known about how the plant-infecting cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV)—an invaluable tool in several biotechnology applications—packages its single-strand RNA genome into the capsid. Here the authors present two high-resolution cryo-EM structures of CPMV and a new model for RNA recognition and capsid assembly.