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This press release is copyright Nature. VOL.445 NO.7130 DATED 22 FEBRUARY 2007
This press release contains:
* Summaries of newsworthy papers:
Astronomy: Extrasolar planet probed
Glaciology: Subglacial lakes discovered in East Antarctica
Insight: Getting under the skin
Chemistry: Halogen soup
Palaeoceanography: Feedback mechanisms on climate change
Animal behaviour: Planning ahead
* Mention of papers to be published at the same time with the same embargo
* Geographical listing of authors
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[1] Astronomy: Extrasolar planet probed (pp 892-895)
Scientists have obtained the infrared spectrum of an extrasolar planet. The atmosphere of extrasolar planet HD 209458b, one of 14 known to transit in front of its parent star, seems to contain dust, but there is no evidence for water. There is also an unidentified feature in the spectrum.
L. Jeremy Richardson and colleagues observed the spectrum of the planet and parent star together before the planet passed behind the star, and again whilst it was hidden behind the star. By subtracting their measurements, they were able to infer the planet’s own spectrum, allowing them to probe the physical conditions of its atmosphere. Their results are revealed in this week’s Nature.
An emission feature at a wavelength of around 9.65 micrometres is identified with silicate dust, but a second feature at around 7.78 micrometres could not be associated with anything at present.
CONTACT
L. Jeremy Richardson (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA)
Tel: +1 301 286 0701; E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
[2] Glaciology: Subglacial lakes discovered in East Antarctica (pp 904-907; N&V)
In a report in this week’s Nature scientists identify large, subglacial lakes in East Antarctica, which are situated at the start of fast-flowing ice streams. The lakes cover an area similar to that of Lake Vostok - the largest of more than 140 lakes already discovered - and could be contributing significantly to the dynamics of the overlying ice sheet.
Ice streams are large ‘rivers’ of fast-flowing ice within continental ice sheets that transport inland ice towards the sea. Previous studies have revealed several large bodies of water trapped under the East Antarctic ice sheet but, until now, all the lakes discovered in this region have been self-contained and isolated from the onset of rapid ice flow.
Michael Studinger and colleagues used satellite radar imagery and ice-surface elevations to reveal four, flat, featureless regions of ice surface surrounded by troughs and ridges - typical ice surface morphology of subglacial lakes. The lakes are located right at the onset of the Recovery Glacier ice stream in East Antarctica and are apparently linked to rapid ice flow across a 280-km-wide region, adding 35 thousand million tons of ice per year into the sea. The authors suggest that these lakes should be taken into account when predicting the fate of ice sheets with the changing climate of the world.
CONTACT
Michael Studinger (Columbia University, Palisades, NY, USA)
Tel: +1 845 365 8598; E-mail: [email protected]
The following co-author may also be available:
Robin E. Bell (Columbia University, Palisades, NY, USA)
E-mail: [email protected]
Jack Kohler (Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromso, Norway) N&V author
Tel: +47 77 75 06 55; E-mail: [email protected]
Insight: Getting under the skin
The largest organ in the body is reduced to the tiny molecules that have roles in wound healing, hair follicle regeneration, pigmentation, melanomas, psoriasis, and in sensing touch and temperature, in an Insight in this week's Nature.
An article by Elaine Fuchs investigates the latest research into how skin develops and describes exciting recent advances that have shown that the maintenance of adult skin epithelia by populations of stem cells could help in regeneration of hair follicles and responses to wounding. Sheila MacNeil explores how knowledge of skin biology has been translated into tissue engineering, creating skin for transplantation and research purposes.
Also in the supplement are articles by David Fisher on skin pigmentation and its involvement in protection from ultraviolet radiation and skin cancer, and Richard Marais on the biology of melanomas, including a look at new targeted therapies. In addition, Jim Krueger reviews how psoriasis develops and how it can be tackled with new therapies, and Ellen Lumpkin describes the mechanisms behind the skin's sensory mechanisms.
The full details of this Insight and the contact details of authors are listed below:
Scratching the surface of skin development
Elaine Fuchs (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA)
Tel: +1 212 327 7953; E-mail: [email protected]
Progress and opportunities for tissue-engineered skin
Sheila MacNeil (University of Sheffield, UK)
Tel: +44 114 222 5995; E-mail: [email protected]
Melanocyte biology and skin pigmentation
David E. Fisher (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 617 632 4916; E-mail: [email protected]
Melanoma biology and new targeted therapy
Richard Marais (The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK)
Tel: +44 20 7153 5171; E-mail: [email protected]
Pathogenesis and therapy of psoriasis
Jim Kreuger (Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA)
Tel: +1 212 327 7730; E-mail: [email protected]
Mechanisms of sensory transduction in the skin
Ellen A. Lumpkin (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA)
Tel: +1 713 798 3418; E-mail: [email protected]
[3] Chemistry: Halogen soup (pp 900-903; N&V)
Chemists have developed a simple method for making testosterone-like molecules containing halogen atoms. Halogenated natural products have been isolated from marine organisms and are often biologically active, so it's hoped the methodology will boost the development of novel therapeutics.
Kazuaki Ishihara and his colleagues mixed a simple halogen-containing 'donor’, a compound that contained phosphorus, and a small-molecule scaffold and thus isolated complex products containing halogen atoms. The reaction is selective for a specific product, giving the manufacturer a high degree of control over the three-dimensional structure of the end products.
The simple manufacturing process, described in this week's issue of Nature, uses simple ingredients to form complicated molecules and may enable chemists and biochemists to understand how similar halogenated natural products are made in nature.
CONTACT
Kazuaki Ishihara (Nagoya University, Japan)
Tel: +81 52 789 3331; E-mail: [email protected]
Phil S. Baran (Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA) N&V author
Tel: +1 858 784 7373; E-mail: [email protected]
[4] Palaeoceanography: Feedback mechanisms on climate change (pp 908-911)
The transport of water vapour from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean may be an important feedback mechanism for abrupt climatic changes, according to a report in this week’s Nature.
Over the past 90,000 years the global ocean circulation has varied between warm and cold periods lasting thousands of years. The atmospheric transport of water from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean across Central America leads to relatively high levels of salinity in the North Atlantic Ocean, contributing to the formation of North Atlantic Deep Water - an important link within the global ocean circulation.
Guillaume Leduc and colleagues monitored rainfall and atmospheric water vapour transport changes across Central America over the past 90,000 years. They used a marine sediment core to reconstruct sea surface salt levels in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, and detected strong fluctuations associated with the migration of the tropical Atlantic Intertropical Convergence Zone. They found that during warmer phases, moisture export from the Atlantic increased, which inevitably reinforced the salt build-up in North Atlantic surface waters. The reverse situation occurred during the cooler periods - so-called Heinrich events - with decreased fresh water flux across Panama.
CONTACT
Guillaume Leduc (CEREGE, CNRS, Aix en Provence, France)
Tel: +33 4 42 97 15 98; E-mail: [email protected]
[5] And finally… Planning ahead (pp 919-921; N&V)
Western scrub-jays can save for the future, according to a paper published online by Nature this week. The results suggest that these prudent members of the corvid family can spontaneously plan for tomorrow without reference to their current motivational state.
Nicola Clayton and colleagues studied the behaviour of western scrub-jays under different feeding conditions. The birds first experienced ‘training’ during which they were placed in two different compartments on alternate mornings for six days. In one compartment they were always given breakfast and in the other they were not. After training the birds were unexpectedly given food in the evening. The authors report that the birds stored more of this evening food when in the compartment in which they had not been given breakfast - as they would expect to be hungry again the next morning - relative to the one in which they had.
In a similar experiment, the birds also differentially stored a particular food in the compartment in which that type of food would not be available the next morning, demonstrating future planning and ensuring a choice of food the following breakfast. Such forward planning challenges the belief, still held by many, that making provision for the future is a uniquely human skill.
CONTACT
Nicola Clayton (University of Cambridge, UK)
Tel: +44 1223 333 559; E-mail: [email protected]
Sara J. Shettleworth (University of Toronto, Canada) N&V author
Tel: +1 416 978 5201; E-mail: [email protected]
ADVANCE ONLINE PUBLICATION
***This paper will be published electronically on Nature's website on 21 February at 1800 London time / 1300 US Eastern time (which is also when the embargo lifts) as part of our AOP (ahead of print) programme. Although we have included it on this release to avoid multiple mailings it will not appear in print on 22 February, but at a later date.***
[6] Functional dissection of protein complexes involved in yeast chromosome biology using a genetic interaction map
DOI: 10.1038/nature05649
GEOGRAPHICAL LISTINGS OF AUTHORS…
The following list of places refers to the whereabouts of authors on the papers numbered in this release. For example, London: 4 - this means that on paper number four, there will be at least one author affiliated to an institute or company in London. The listing may be for an author's main affiliation, or for a place where they are working temporarily. Please see the PDF of the paper for full details.
CANADA
Toronto: 6
Vancouver: 6
FRANCE
Aix-en-Provence: 4
JAPAN
Nagoya: 3
UNITED KINGDOM
Cambridge: 5
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
California
San Francisco: 6
District of Columbia
Washington: 1
Florida
Melbourne: 1
Orlando: 1
Maryland
Greenbelt: 1, 2
Massachusetts
Cambridge: 1
Minnesota
Rochester: 6
New Hampshire
Durham: 2
New York
New York: 6
Palisades: 2
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia: 6
Seattle
Washington: 2
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Tel: +1 202 737 2355; E-mail: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
For Japan, Korea, China, Singapore and Taiwan
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Tel: +81 3 3267 8751; E-mail: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
For the UK/Europe/other countries not listed above
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