This press release contains:
Summaries of newsworthy papers:
Climate Change: Increased leaf litter boosts soil carbon release
Genetics: Map for developmental delay
Cell Biology: Regulating metabolism in stressful conditions
Geoscience: Do planetary waves cause Titan’s downpours?
Mention of papers to be published at the same time
Geographical listing of authors
PDFs of all the papers mentioned on this release can be found in the relevant journal’s section of http://press.nature.com. Press contacts for the Nature journals are listed at the end of this release.
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PLEASE CITE THE SPECIFIC NATURE JOURNAL AND WEBSITE AS THE SOURCE OF THE FOLLOWING ITEMS. IF PUBLISHING ONLINE, PLEASE CARRY A HYPERLINK TO THE APPROPRIATE JOURNAL’S WEBSITE.
[1] Climate Change: Increased leaf litter boosts soil carbon release
DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1190
Increased leaf-litter input may boost carbon release from tropical forest soils, partially offsetting predicted gains in forest carbon storage, according to research published online this week in Nature Climate Change.
Enhanced tropical forest productivity stimulated by increasing carbon dioxide concentrations could act as a substantial carbon sink, potentially slowing down the rate of global warming. However, feedbacks between increased productivity and soil carbon dynamics remain unexplored, limiting our ability to predict future changes in carbon storage.
Emma Sayer and colleagues added leaf litter to forest soils in Panama and monitored them for six years to investigate the effects of enhanced litterfall on carbon storage in the soil. Using isotope measurements to distinguish between carbon sources, they found that litter addition significantly increases the release of carbon dioxide from soil organic carbon through a process known as ‘priming’, where soil microbes are stimulated by the addition of easily decomposable organic matter.
The researchers estimate that a 30% increase in litterfall could release about 0.6 tonnes of carbon per hectare from lowland tropical forest soils each year. This amount of carbon is greater than estimates of the climate-induced increase in forest biomass in Amazonia over recent decades.
Author contacts:
Emma Sayer (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, UK)
Tel: +44 1491 692704; E-mail: [email protected]
Yakov Kuzyakov (University of Bayreuth, Germany) N&V author
Tel: +49 921 55 2292 E-mail: [email protected]
[2] Genetics: Map for developmental delay
DOI: 10.1038/ng.909
A genomic map for rare copy number variants (CNVs) in intellectual disability and developmental delay is reported this week in Nature Genetics. The work provides a genome-wide morbidity map for CNVs that will be important for clinical and research studies.
Evan Eichler and colleagues examined CNVs in 15,767 children with various developmental and intellectual disabilities. They found an excess of large CNVs in these pediatric cases compared to adult controls, with the disease risk increasing with CNV size. They also found that the large CNV burden was higher among individuals with more severe developmental disorders. They suggest that 14.2% of developmental delay in these children may be explained by large CNVs. They also identify 59 potentially pathogenic CNVs and highlight genes that may play a role in these disorders.
Author contact:
Evan Eichler (University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA)
Tel: +1 206 543 9526; E-mail: [email protected]
[3] Cell Biology: Regulating metabolism in stressful conditions
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2309
Successful adaptation to starvation or cold exposure depends in part on a protein called E2F1 reports a paper online in Nature Cell Biology this week. These findings highlight an important way in which cells cope at the molecular level when exposed to stressful environmental conditions.
Lluis Fajas and colleagues found that mice lacking E2F1 were less susceptible to exercise-induced fatigue and could maintain a higher body temperature following fasting or in cold conditions. These results suggest that E2F1 regulates metabolism. Indeed, the authors found that E2F1 loss increased the expression of genes important for oxidative metabolism, suggesting that E2F1 normally functions to repress this type of metabolism.
The team went on to provide insight into how this function of E2F1 is integrated with its well-established role in cell-cycle progression. These findings support a critical position for E2F1 at the nexus of cell proliferation and metabolism.
Author contact:
Lluis Fajas (Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, France)
Tel: +33 4 67 61 36 67; E-mail: [email protected]
[4] Geoscience: Do planetary waves cause Titan’s downpours?
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1219
The spectacular cloud shapes that were observed on Saturn’s moon Titan by the Cassini mission arise from planetary waves in the moon’s atmosphere, suggests a paper published online this week in Nature Geoscience. Cloud patterns formed by this mechanism can lead to high precipitation rates that may be important in shaping Titan’s surface by erosion.
Jonathan Mitchell and colleagues simulated Titan’s atmospheric dynamics with a three-dimensional general circulation model, and found that two distinct modes of atmospheric waves organize clouds and precipitation. In combination, these modes can lead to downpours with precipitation rates of up to twenty times the local average.
In an accompanying News & Views, Tetsuya Tokano writes: “The study by Mitchell and colleagues is a first step towards assembling a precipitation climatology for Titan.”
Author contacts:
Jonathan Mitchell (University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA)
Tel: +1 310 895 2970; E-mail: [email protected]
Tetsuya Tokano (Universität zu Köln, Germany) N&V author
Tel: +49 221 4704489; E-mail: [email protected]
Items from other Nature journals to be published online at the same time:
Nature (http://www.nature.com/nature)
[5] N2O binding at a [4Cu:2S] copper–sulphur cluster in nitrous oxide reductase
DOI: 10.1038/nature10332
[6] Chromosomal rearrangements maintain a polymorphic supergene controlling butterfly mimicry
DOI: 10.1038/nature10341
[7] a-Synuclein occurs physiologically as a helically folded tetramer that resists aggregation
DOI: 10.1038/nature10324
[8] Different patterns of peripheral migration by memory CD41 and CD81 T cells
DOI: 10.1038/nature10339
[9] TSLP promotes interleukin-3-independent basophil haematopoiesis and type 2 inflammation
DOI: 10.1038/nature10329
NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturebiotechnology)
[10] An antibody against SSEA-5 glycan on human pluripotent stem cells enables removal of teratoma-forming cells
DOI: 10.1038/nbt.1947
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturecellbiology)
[11] Embryonic stem cells require Wnt proteins to prevent differentiation to epiblast stem cells
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2314
[12] Actin dynamics counteract membrane tension during clathrin-mediated endocytosis
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2307
[13 Notch post-translationally regulates beta-catenin protein in stem and progenitor cells
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2313
NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/nchembio)
[14] The tRNA synthetase paralog PoxA modifies elongation factor-P with (R)-beta-lysine
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.632
[15] Structural principles of nucleoside selectivity in a 2’-deoxyguanosine riboswitch
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.631
NATURE CHEMISTRY (http://www.nature.com/nchem)
[16] Control and induction of surface-confined homochiral porous molecular networks
DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1111
[17] Measuring oxygen reduction/evolution reactions on the nanoscale
DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1112
[18] Regio- and stereoselectivity of P450-catalysed hydroxylation of steroids controlled by laboratory evolution
DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1113
[19] Reactions of the inner surface of carbon nanotubes and nanoprotrusion processes imaged at the atomic scale
DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1115
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE (http://www.nature.com/nclimate)
Facing the heat
DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1198
Market watch: Unloading truck emissions
DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1197
NATURE GENETICS (http://www.nature.com/naturegenetics)
[20] Exome sequencing identifies ACSF3 as a cause of combined malonic and methylmalonic aciduria
DOI: 10.1038/ng.908
[21] A genome-wide association study identifies two new risk loci for Graves’ disease
DOI: 10.1038/ng.898
[22] The autoimmune disease-associated PTPN22 variant promotes calpain-mediated Lyp/Pep degradation associated with lymphocyte and dendritic cell hyperresponsiveness
DOI: 10.1038/ng.904
[23] A20 (TNFAIP3) deficiency in myeloid cells triggers erosive polyarthritis resembling rheumatoid arthritis
DOI: 10.1038/ng.874
NATURE GEOSCIENCE (http://www.nature.com/ngeo)
[24] Differential motion between upper crust and lithospheric mantle in the Central Basin and Range
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1229
[25] A record of the Southern Oscillation Index for the past 2,000 years from precipitation proxies
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1231
NATURE IMMUNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/natureimmunology)
[26] Repression of the genome organizer SATB1 in regulatory T cells is required for suppressive function and inhibition of effector differentiation
DOI:10.1038/ni.2084
[27] Afferent lymph–derived T cells and DCs use different chemokine receptor CCR7–dependent routes for entry into the lymph node and intranodal migration
DOI:10.1038/ni.2085
NATURE MATERIALS (http://www.nature.com/naturematerials)
[28] Probing bulk electronic structure with hard X-ray angle-resolved photoemission
DOI: 10.1038/nmat3089
Nature MEDICINE (http://www.nature.com/naturemedicine)
[29] Pathway to diet- and obesity-associated diabetes through attenuation of pancreatic beta cell glycosylation and glucose transport
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2414
[30] Identification of nucleolin as a cellular receptor for human respiratory syncytial virus
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2444
NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/nnano)
[31] Light–induced disassembly of self-assembled vesicle-capped nanotubes observed in real time
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2011.120
[32] Ultrastrong adhesion of graphene membranes
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2011.123
Nature NEUROSCIENCE (http://www.nature.com/natureneuroscience)
[33] Role of rodent secondary motor cortex in value-based action selection
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2881
[34] The brain-specific microRNA, miR-128b, regulates the formation of fear extinction memory
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2891
[35] Metamers of the ventral stream
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2889
[36] Presenilin 1 regulates homeostatic synaptic scaling through Akt signaling
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2893
NATURE PHOTONICS (http://www.nature.com/nphoton)
[37] Reconfigurable light-driven opto-acoustic isolators in photonic crystal fibre
DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2011.180
Nature PHYSICS (http://www.nature.com/naturephysics)
[38] Universal energy fluctuations in thermally isolated driven systems
DOI: 10.1038/nphys2057
[39] Unexpected mass acquisition of Dirac fermions at the quantum phase transition of a topological insulator
DOI: 10.1038/nphys2058
Nature STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/natstructmolbiol)
[40] Cell cycle regulation of double-strand break end resection by Cdk1-dependent Dna2 phosphorylation
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2105
[41] The pseudokinase domain of JAK2 is a dual-specificity protein kinase that negatively regulates cytokine signaling
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2099
[42] A universal pathway for kinesin stepping
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2104
GEOGRAPHICAL LISTING OF AUTHORS
The following list of places refers to the whereabouts of authors on the papers numbered in this release. 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.
AUSTRALIA
Melbourne: 7, 9
AUSTRIA
Vienna: 19
BELGIUM
Antwerp: 20
Ghent: 20
Leuven: 16, 20
CANADA
Montreal: 22
Toronto: 22, 30
Vancouver: 30, 35
CHINA
Anhui: 25
Qingdao: 25
Shanghai: 21
DENMARK
Odense: 40
DENMARK
Copenhagen: 40
FINLAND
Tampere: 40
FRANCE
Montpellier: 3
Paris: 9, 11, 23
GERMANY
Bonn: 26
Cologne: 20, 26
Duesseldorf: 10
Erlangen: 28, 37
Freiburg: 5
Hannover: 26, 27
Heidelberg: 17
Jülich: 28
Karlsruhe: 5
Konstanz: 5
Leipzig: 26
Mainz: 28
Marburg: 18
Martinsried: 20
Munich: 28
Mülheim an der Ruhr: 18
Ulm: 19
ISRAEL
Haifa: 38
JAPAN
Chiba: 6
Hyogo: 28
Osaka: 16, 39
Saitama: 29
Sendai: 39
Yokohama: 6
KOREA
Suwon: 33
REPUBLIC OF PANAMA
Panama: 1, 9
SWEDEN
Stockholm: 4
SWITZERLAND
Basel: 40
Fribourg: 9
Lausanne: 3
THE NETHERLANDS
Groningen: 31
Leiden: 9
Rotterdam: 13
Utrecht: 20
UNITED KINGDOM
Cambridge: 1, 9
Edinburgh: 9
Lancaster: 1
Nottingham: 19
Oxford: 1
Penryn: 9
Wallingford: 1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Alabama
Huntsville: 2
California
San Francisco: 26
Berkeley: 4, 28
Davis: 28
La Jolla: 23, 29
Los Angeles: 4, 35
San Diego: 26
San Francisco: 12, 23
Santa Barbara: 29
Stanford: 10, 13, 41
Colorado
Boulder: 24, 32
Connecticut
New Haven: 33, 42
District of Columbia
Washington: 23
Florida
Gainesville: 2
Orlando: 15
Indiana
Ft. Wayne: 2
Louisiana
New Orleans: 2
Massachusetts
Boston: 8, 11, 21, 23, 38
Maryland
Baltimore: 12
Bethesda: 23
Laurel: 4
Rockville: 23
Minnesota
Minneapolis: 23, 26
Rochester: 23
Missouri
Columbia: 2
North Carolina
Durham: 2
Nevada
Reno: 24
New York
New York: 14, 34, 40, 41
Ohio
Columbus: 15
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia: 6, 26, 40
Pittsburgh: 2
South Carolina
Greenwood: 23
Tennessee
Nashville: 2
Oak Ridge: 17
Texas
Houston: 42
San Antonio: 42
Washington
Seattle: 2, 6, 36
Spokane: 2
Wisconsin
Madison: 25
West Virginia
Morgantown: 2
UKRAINE
Kiev: 17
PRESS CONTACTS…
For media inquiries relating to embargo policy for all the Nature Research Journals:
Rachel Twinn (Nature London)
Tel: +44 20 7843 4658; E-mail: [email protected]
Neda Afsarmanesh (Nature New York)
Tel: +1 212 726 9231; E-mail: [email protected]
Ruth Francis (Head of Press, Nature, London)
Tel: +44 20 7843 4562; E-mail: [email protected]
For media inquiries relating to editorial content/policy for the Nature Research Journals, please contact the journals individually:
Nature Biotechnology (New York)
Michael Francisco
Tel: +1 212 726 9288; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Cell Biology (London)
Sowmya Swaminathan
Tel: +44 20 7843 4656; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Chemical Biology (Boston)
Elissa Bolt
Tel: +1 617 475 9241, E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Chemistry (London)
Stuart Cantrill
Tel: +44 20 7014 4018; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Climate Change (London)
Olive Heffernan
Tel: +44 20 7014 4009; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Genetics (New York)
Myles Axton
Tel: +1 212 726 9324; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Geoscience (London)
Heike Langenberg
Tel: +44 20 7843 4042; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Immunology (New York)
Laurie Dempsey
Tel: +1 212 726 9372; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Materials (London)
Vincent Dusastre
Tel: +44 20 7843 4531; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Medicine (New York)
Juan Carlos Lopez
Tel: +1 212 726 9325; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Methods (New York)
Hugh Ash
Tel: +1 212 726 9627; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Nanotechnology (London)
Peter Rodgers
Tel: +44 20 7014 4019; Email: [email protected]
Nature Neuroscience (New York)
Kalyani Narasimhan
Tel: +1 212 726 9319; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Photonics (Tokyo)
Oliver Graydon
Tel: +81 3 3267 8776; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Physics (London)
Alison Wright
Tel: +44 20 7843 4555; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (New York)
Sabbi Lall
Tel: +1 212 726 9326; E-mail: [email protected]
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