Biotechnology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Insect population control using conditional lethal systems could break down due to spontaneous mutations that render the system ineffective. Here the authors analyse the structure and frequency of such mutations in Drosophila and suggest the use of dual lethality systems to mitigate their survival.

    • Yang Zhao
    • , Marc F. Schetelig
    •  & Alfred M. Handler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Production of a safe and manufacturable material to mimic anabolic bone for tissue engineering has been hard to achieve to date. Here the authors use a mesenchymal stem cell line generated from induced pluripotent stem cells to produce osteogenic cell-matrix, displaying significant healing properties in mice.

    • Eoin P. McNeill
    • , Suzanne Zeitouni
    •  & Carl A. Gregory

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The physical architectures of information storage dictate how data is encoded, organised and accessed. Here the authors use DNA with a single-strand overhang as a physical address to access specific data and do in-storage file operations in a scalable and reusuable manner.

    • Kevin N. Lin
    • , Kevin Volkel
    •  & Albert J. Keung

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The DNA cytosine deaminases APOBEC3A and APOBEC3B have emerged from cancer genomics studies as drivers of mutation in cancers and tumor heterogeneity. Here the authors present a computational approach to identify the RNA mutations specifically driven by APOBEC3A, and developed an RNA mutation-based assay to quantify ongoing APOBEC3A activity in tumor cells.

    • Pégah Jalili
    • , Danae Bowen
    •  & Rémi Buisson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Calorimetrically measuring the heat of single cells is currently not possible due to the sensitivity of existing calorimeters. Here the authors present on-chip single cell calorimetry, with a sensitivity over ten-fold greater than the current gold-standard.

    • Sahngki Hong
    • , Edward Dechaumphai
    •  & Renkun Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Control over splicing could be used for both therapeutic and engineering applications. Here the authors create artificial splicing factors using RNA-targeting CRISPR systems under small molecule control.

    • Menghan Du
    • , Nathaniel Jillette
    •  & Albert Wu Cheng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Previous design strategies for pH sensitive aptamers were not readily tunable across pH ranges. Here the authors present a general method to convert aptamers into pH-responsive switches using two orthogonal motifs.

    • Ian A. P. Thompson
    • , Liwei Zheng
    •  & H. Tom Soh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Some human amyloid proteins have been shown to interact with viral proteins, suggesting that they may have potential as therapeutic agents. Here the authors design synthetic amyloids specific for influenza A and Zika virus proteins, respectively, and show that they can inhibit viral replication.

    • Emiel Michiels
    • , Kenny Roose
    •  & Joost Schymkowitz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Immunopeptidomics allows identifying the cellular repertoire of MHC-bound peptides, but quantifying them remains challenging. Here, the authors present a method to efficiently generate internal peptide MHC standards and calibration curves, facilitating relative and absolute quantitative immunopeptidomics.

    • Lauren E. Stopfer
    • , Joshua M. Mesfin
    •  & Forest M. White

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While organisms like squid can adaptively modulate the optical properties of their tissues, human cells lack analogous abilities. Here the authors engineer human cells to produce protein architectures with tunable light scattering functionalities.

    • Atrouli Chatterjee
    • , Juana Alejandra Cerna Sanchez
    •  & Alon A. Gorodetsky

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here the authors perform a gain-of-function screen and identify CDKN2C as a host factor for HBV replication, inducing cell cycle arrest and expression of HBV transcription enhancers. CDKN2C expression correlates with disease progression suggesting a potential role in HBV-induced liver disease.

    • Carla Eller
    • , Laura Heydmann
    •  & Thomas F. Baumert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Comprehensive epigenomic maps of various rice varieties are still unavailable. Here, the authors report the development of eChIP as a fast and low-input upgrade of regular plant ChIP-seq protocol for epigenome analysis of 20 rice varieties and annotate over 80% of the genome with different epigenome properties for transcriptional regulation.

    • Lun Zhao
    • , Liang Xie
    •  & Xingwang Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Increasing grain yield needs to be put in the context of environmental stress. Here, the authors reveal that a UDP-glucosyltransferase is associated with regulation of rice grain size, abiotic stress tolerance, flavonoid-mediated auxin signaling, and redirection of carbon flux to flavonoid glycosides synthesis.

    • Nai-Qian Dong
    • , Yuwei Sun
    •  & Hong-Xuan Lin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultrasensitive methods for detection of biomarkers for infectious disease are needed for diagnosing, monitoring and targeting treatment. Here the authors develop a digital assay for inflammatory markers, bacterial DNA and antibotic-resistance genes and apply it to characterise asthma patients and predict mortality from septic shock.

    • M. Fatih Abasıyanık
    • , Krysta Wolfe
    •  & Savaş Tay

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Memory B cells are important for protecting the host from pathogen rechallenge, but their properties and locations remain ill-defined. Here the authors show, using single-cell transcriptomics and repertoire analyses, that mouse spleen and bone marrow host distinct populations of isotype-switched memory B cells to potentially optimize for rapid recall responses.

    • René Riedel
    • , Richard Addo
    •  & Andreas Radbruch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Alfalfa is an important forage crop, but genetic improvement is challenging due to the lack of a reference genome and an efficient genome editing protocol. Here, the authors report the chromosome-level assembly of the autotetraploid genome and a CRISPR/Cas9-based transgene-free genome editing protocol.

    • Haitao Chen
    • , Yan Zeng
    •  & Qiang Qiu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Genetic changes acquired during in vitro culture pose a challenge to application of stem cells. Here the authors use whole genome sequencing to show that cultured human adult and pluripotent stem cells have a high mutational load caused by oxidative stress and reduced oxygen tension in culture lowers mutation rates.

    • Ewart Kuijk
    • , Myrthe Jager
    •  & Edwin Cuppen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) requirements limit the target range of CRISPR endonucleases. Here, the authors graft the 5\(^{\prime}\)-NAAN-3\(^{\prime}\) PAM-interacting domain of SmacCas9 onto SpyCas9 to create adenine dinucleotide targeting chimeras.

    • Pranam Chatterjee
    • , Jooyoung Lee
    •  & Noah Jakimo

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    Our efforts to build complex synthetic biology circuits are impeded by limited knowledge of optimal combinations. In this review, the authors consider current combinatorial methods and look to emerging technologies.

    • Gita Naseri
    •  & Mattheos A. G. Koffas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    TRANSPARENT TESTA19 (TT19) encodes a glutathione S-transferase which functions in anthocyanin stabilization and vacuolar transport. Here, by tt19 suppressor screening, the authors show that RDR6/SGS3/DCL4 siRNA pathway constituents synergistically interact with components of the flavonoid pathway to control carbon metabolism.

    • Nan Jiang
    • , Aimer Gutierrez-Diaz
    •  & Erich Grotewold

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The spatial organisation of microbial communities is caused by the interplay of biotic and abiotic factors. Here the authors design a microfluidic platform to quantify the spatiotemporal parameters influencing diffusion-mediated interactions, and use this device to investigate information transmission and metabolic cross-feeding in synthetic microbial consortia.

    • Sonali Gupta
    • , Tyler D. Ross
    •  & Ophelia S. Venturelli

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The type III secretion system (T3SS) of bacteria can be used to inject cargo into eukaryotic cells but its lack of target specificity is a disadvantage. Here the authors place the T3SS under the regulation of light by engineering optogenetic switches into the dynamic cytosolic T3SS component SctQ.

    • Florian Lindner
    • , Bailey Milne-Davies
    •  & Andreas Diepold

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Noninvasive detection of molecular targets in living subjects could provide valuable insights into healthy function and disease. Here, the authors develop vasoactive imaging probes which allow wide-field in vivo mapping of nanomolar-level molecular species in rat brain.

    • Robert Ohlendorf
    • , Agata Wiśniowska
    •  & Alan Jasanoff

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Most human protein-coding genes are expressed as multiple isoforms. Here the authors present ORF Capture-seq that uses cloned ORFs as probes to capture and sequence full length transcript sequences. This enables highly sensitive characterization of eukaryotic transcriptomes.

    • Gloria M. Sheynkman
    • , Katharine S. Tuttle
    •  & Marc Vidal

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Exosomes are used as disease biomarkers, but their characterization in biological samples is challenging. Here the authors achieve simultaneous characterization of size and zeta potential of individual nanoparticles and particle mixtures at physiological salinity conditions, exploiting a salt gradient in a capillary channel.

    • Martin K. Rasmussen
    • , Jonas N. Pedersen
    •  & Rodolphe Marie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Manipulation of genes controlling microbial shapes can affect bio-production. Here, the authors employ an optogenetic method to realize dynamic morphological engineering of E. coli replication and division and show the increased production of acetoin and poly(lactate-co-3-hydroxybutyrate).

    • Qiang Ding
    • , Danlei Ma
    •  & Xiulai Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lactazole A is a thiopeptide from Streptomyces lactacystinaeus, encoded by a compact 9.8 kb biosynthetic gene cluster. Here, the authors show a platform for in vitro biosynthesis of lactazole A via a combination of a flexible in vitro translation system with recombinantly produced lactazole biosynthetic enzymes.

    • Alexander A. Vinogradov
    • , Morito Shimomura
    •  & Hiroyasu Onaka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biofilm formation is a major problem in indwelling medical devices. Here, the authors report on the development of a magnetically responsive micro pillar surface for the controlled prevention and removal of biofilms which also increased sensitivity to antibiotics.

    • Huan Gu
    • , Sang Won Lee
    •  & Dacheng Ren

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Arterial degeneration, closely associated with cardiovascular diseases, is driven by aging-related vascular cell-specific transcriptomics changes. This study provides a single-cell transcriptomic atlas for senile aortic and coronary arteries and underscores FOXO3A-based the transcriptional network in vasoprotection during aging.

    • Weiqi Zhang
    • , Shu Zhang
    •  & Jing Qu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Previous versions of photoactivatable Cre recombinase (PA-Cre) suffered from unintentional recombination in dark conditions. Here, the authors develop an improved version of PA-Cre, called PA-Cre 3.0, which shows reduced leakiness and improved efficiency upon activation, and make mouse lines that express PA-Cre 3.0 conditionally.

    • Kumi Morikawa
    • , Kazuhiro Furuhashi
    •  & Masayuki Yazawa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fermentation parameters of industrial processes are often not the ideal growth conditions for industrial microbes. Here, the authors reveal that young genes are more responsive to environmental stress than ancient genes using a new gene age assignment method and provide targeted genes for metabolic engineering.

    • Tyler W. Doughty
    • , Iván Domenzain
    •  & John P. Morrissey

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Precise patterning of lipid-stabilised aqueous droplets is a key challenge in building synthetic tissue designs. Here, the authors show how the interactions between pairs of droplets direct the packing of droplets within 3D-printed networks, enabling the formation of synthetic tissues with high-resolution features.

    • Alessandro Alcinesio
    • , Oliver J. Meacock
    •  & Hagan Bayley

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A small set of promoters is used for most genetic construct design in S. cerevisiae. Here, the authors develop a predictive model of promoter activity trained on a data set of over one million sequences and use it to design large sets of high-activity promoters.

    • Benjamin J. Kotopka
    •  & Christina D. Smolke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sorting insects based on sex is error prone and frequently labour intensive. Here, the authors present a drug-inducible sex separation system based on sex-specific rescue from antibotic toxicity.

    • Nikolay P. Kandul
    • , Junru Liu
    •  & Omar S. Akbari

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