Research articles

Metamaterial analogues of electromagnetically-induced transparency provide interesting optical components and applications. By actively tuning the dark mode of a metamaterial, Guet al. optically control its electromagnetically-induced transparency, showing tunable group delay of terahertz light.

The sulfation of protein tyrosine residues is a common post-translational modification in eukaryotes. Here, Han et al.show that the protein RaxST, produced by a plant bacterium, has tyrosine sulfotransferase activity, demonstrating for the first time tyrosine sulfation in prokaryotes.

Granular matter is rigid when jammed, and flows under external loads. Here temperature- and force-unfolding molecular dynamics stimulations are used to demonstrate that proteins display features of jamming, characterized by a force distribution peak on folding and a slowdown of stress relaxation.

miRNAs simultaneously regulate a range of genes, making them potential master players in evolution. Huet al.identify a human-specific miRNA called miR-941, whose copy number remains polymorphic in modern humans, and show that miR-941 is expressed in the brain and could regulate important signalling pathways.

Although horizontal gene transfer is prevalent in microorganisms, such sharing of genetic information is thought to be rare in land plants. Focusing on the sequenced moss species,Physcomitrella patens, these authors report genes acquired from microorganisms, which might have facilitated early evolution of land plants.

Sequence-specific DNA endonucleases have found numerous applications in biology, but similar manipulations of RNA have been limited by the lack of suitable enzymes. These authors combine a cleavage domain with a designable binding domain and demonstrate the resulting RNA endonuclease's utilityin vitroand in cells.

The study of materials at high pressure has been limited by the conditions achievable using single-crystal diamond anvils. The use of anvils that incorporate a second stage consisting of two hemispherical nanocrystalline diamond micro-balls, extends the range of static pressures that can be generated in the lab.

Rapid synaptic transmission requires efficient recycling of synaptic vesicle membrane proteins. Sochackiet al.use live cell, electron and super-resolution microscopy to visualize exocytosis of vesicular transporters and their rapid recapture in clathrin-rich microdomains in the plasma membrane.

The surface electronic structure of bismuth-chalchogenide topological insulators interfaced to air or other materials has complex features not predicted by theory. Bahramy et al. propose a model explaining the origin of these electronic states, and uncover their rich spin texture by circular dichroism experiments.

Soldier beetles use a polyacetylenic fatty acid to repel avian predators and protect their eggs. Haritoset al. find that three genes in soldier beetles convert oleic acid to a precursor of 8Z-dihydromatricaria acid—the first eukaryotic genes reported to produce conjugated polyacetylenic fatty acids.

L-type calcium channels comprising the Ca_V1.3 subunit have been linked to the generation of mitochondrial oxidant stress in Parkinson’s disease. Kang et al. identify pyrimidine-2,4,6-triones as a potential molecular scaffold, which they modify to develop a potent and highly selective Ca_V1.3 antagonist.

Photosynthesis occurs at the thylakoid membrane, which acts as a scaffold, precisely arranging functional proteins and electron carriers. Sunet al.synthesize hollow photosynthetic nanospheres that function as light-harvesting antennae and structured scaffolds that improve photoredox catalysis.

Human influence on an ecosystem generates a predictable pattern in biodiversity. In a study of boreal plant communities, Mayoret al.show that the species richness of native vascular plants fits the predicted hump-shaped relationship to human disturbance, reaching a maximum when half of the landscape is disturbed.

When lanthanum aluminate and strontium titanate are brought together, a 2D electron gas with many interesting properties forms at the interface. Magnetotransport results obtained by Joshuaet al. suggest that the behaviour of this interface is governed by a small but fundamental set of electronic bands.

High-resolution characterisation techniques enable us to better understand the properties of nanoscale materials and devices. By combining electron microscopy and infrared nanoscopy, Stiegleret al.demonstrate a general approach to simultaneously probe the structural, chemical and electronic properties of a nanostructure.

Hunter-gatherer populations in Africa preserve unique information about human history, but genetic sub-structures of these populations remain unclear. Using newly designed microarray and statistical methods, these authors analyse genetic compositions of southern African populations and reveal an ancient link between southern and eastern Africa.

The orientational order of nematic liquid crystals is a property that is controllable by external parameters such as electromagnetic fields and pressure gradients. Lavrentovich and co-workers demonstrate that thermal expansion can also induce orientational order that results in a flow of the liquid crystals.

Quantum phase transitions are most commonly found to occur at zero temperature. Cuevaset al.present numerical evidence confirming that a quantum phase transition can also occur at finite temperature, provided strong disorder is present.

The spontaneous adsorption of alkanethiols is widely utilized to fabricate functional surfaces but gives limited stability and regularity. Mattiuzziet al. report a method that uses preorganized platforms (rigid tetrapodant calix[4]arenes), which allows further surface functionalization and spatial control.

Microsporidia are widespread human parasites, but limited genome annotation has hampered efforts to understand their biology. Peyretailladeet al. use sequence motifs upstream of start codons to annotate or re-annotate microsporidian genomes and find new genes potentially involved in interactions with the host.