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Fungal infection can affect crop yield. A plant protein found to counter fungal-induced interference with host metabolism illuminates antifungal defences and mechanisms that inhibit metabolic enzymes.
Intron sequences are removed from newly synthesized RNA and usually rapidly degraded. However, it now seems that introns have a surprising role — helping yeast cells survive when nutrients are scarce.
A tenet of elementary biology is that mitochondria — the cell’s powerhouses — and their DNA are inherited exclusively from mothers. A provocative study suggests that fathers also occasionally contribute.
Polymeric gel particles have been used to make windows that highly effectively allow or block heat-generating wavelengths of sunlight in response to temperature. Such windows might increase the energy efficiency of buildings.
A study shows that a multi-chromosomal hub assembles in mouse olfactory neurons to ensure that only one odour-sensing receptor is expressed in each neuron — a feature essential to odour discrimination.
Identification of the enzyme that catalyses a site-specific modification of the protein actin reveals how this change modulates the function of the cell’s force-producing machinery.
In roots, stem cells in the cambium region form vascular tissues needed for the long-distance transport of water and nutrients. How these stem cells are specified and regulated has now been illuminated.
A technique called reverberation mapping has previously been used to probe the structure of matter around supermassive black holes. Observations suggest that this technique can also be applied to much smaller black holes.
A technically challenging analysis has revealed the physical properties of a mineral at pressures and temperatures as high as those in Earth’s mantle. The findings have implications for our understanding of Earth’s deep interior.
A computational strategy has delivered a redesigned, more stable version of a cytokine protein that mimics the natural protein’s interactions with receptors, opening the way for designer cytokine-based therapeutics.
Scenarios have been discovered in which it is impossible to prove whether or not a machine-learning algorithm could solve a particular problem. This finding might have implications for both established and future learning algorithms.
Implants that electrically stimulate nerves continuously to treat disease can cause off-target effects and pain. An implant that uses light to modulate the activity of genetically modified nerve cells might offer a solution.
In materials called Weyl semimetals, electrons form structures that have distinct topological properties. The discovery of an ultrafast switch between two of these structures could have many practical applications.
Methane produced in sediments beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet is released to the atmosphere by meltwater in the summer. This suggests that glacial melt could be an important global source of this greenhouse gas.
What determines whether genetic mutations lead to cancer? Analyses of healthy cells in the human oesophagus reveal that a high level of genetic alterations arises as people age, yet this doesn’t usually result in cancer.
The GABAA-receptor family has a crucial role in neural inhibition in the human brain. New structures of a GABAA receptor highlight the mechanisms of crosstalk between its binding sites.
