This press release contains:
---Summaries of newsworthy papers:
Genetics: Tuberculosis drug resistance
Genetics: Evolution of drug resistance
Immunology: Thymus involution
And finally…Nanotechnology: On the outside, looking in
---Mention of papers to be published at the same time with the same embargo
---Geographical listing of authors
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[1] Genetics: Tuberculosis drug resistance
DOI: 10.1038/ng.1038
The evolution of compensatory mutations in drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains is reported this week in Nature Genetics. This suggests an important role for compensatory mutations in the evolution and spread of drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) in current global epidemics.
Sebastien Gagneux and colleagues report the whole-genome sequencing of clinical M. tuberculosis strains isolated from ten individuals with TB, including both rifampicin drug resistant and rifampicin sensitive strains isolated from each individual. The authors also sequenced experimentally evolved M. tuberculosis strains that developed rifampicin-resistance. These laboratory-evolved resistant strains all contained rpoB mutations known to confer rifampicin resistance. They identified the evolution of compensatory mutations in the rpoA and rpoC genes associated with increased fitness, found both in the laboratory evolution studies and at high frequencies in world-wide clinical settings and amongst epidemics of multiple-drug resistant (MDR)-TB.
Author contact:
Sebastien Gagneux (Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland)
Tel: +41 61 284 8369; E-mail: [email protected]
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[2] Genetics: Evolution of drug resistance
DOI: 10.1038/ng.1034
Whole-genome sequencing of E. coli strains as they acquire drug resistance over a time course of antibiotic treatment is reported this week in Nature Genetics. These experiments were conducted using a newly developed laboratory microbial culture device, which allows for the monitoring in real-time of the genomic evolution of drug resistance in bacterial populations.
Roy Kishony and colleagues report the development of the ‘morbidostat’, a device that allows for automated evolution experiments over extended timescales. Moreover, the morbidostat allows for a more realistic laboratory model for the evolution of resistance, by monitoring bacterial growth and adjusting drug concentrations to provide a constant selective pressure. Using the morbidostat, the authors examine the evolution of drug resistance in E. coli populations under selection with one of several single drugs. They sequenced the whole genomes of initial drug sensitive E. coli and bacteria isolated from over a time course of up to 25 days under drug selection. They identify new drug resistance conferring mutations, as well as insights into the order and path of mutations in the evolution of resistance.
Author contact:
Roy Kishony (Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 617 432 6390; E-mail: [email protected]
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[3] Immunology: Thymus involution
DOI: 10.1038/ni.2193
The microRNA network, and specifically the microRNA miR-29a, is critical for protecting the thymus against inappropriate atrophy during infections, according to a report published in Nature Immunology.
The thymus, the dedicated organ for T cell development, undergoes gradual and progressive atrophy with age, as well as periodical and reversible atrophy driven by pathogen infections. This process is known as thymic involution. Age-driven involution is mediated by the sensitivity of the thymic epithelial cells to sex hormones, while infection-induced involution is controlled by the sensitivity of these cells to interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha), a molecular mediator of the immune response. Adrian Liston and colleagues show that microRNAs, which are small, non-coding RNAs that modulate protein production, reduce the sensitivity of the thymic epithelium to IFN-alpha signals and are critical for protecting the thymus against infection-induced involution.
Author contact:
Adrian Liston (VIB Autoimmune Genetics Laboratory, Leuven, Belgium)
Tel: +32 16 33 09 34; E-mail: [email protected]
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[4] And finally…Nanotechnology: On the outside, looking in
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2011.223
A combination of a silicon nanowire and a silicon dioxide nanotube that can be used to measure the electrical activity inside a cell is reported online this week in Nature Nanotechnology.
Charles Lieber and co-workers joined a nanotube and the nanowire together to form a T-shaped structure. The hollow nanotube was able to penetrate the membranes of a cell, thus bringing the fluid inside the cell (the cytosol) into contact with the nanowire. A voltage was then applied across the nanowire, which allowed it to operate as a field-effect transistor (FET) and detect electrical signals inside the cell.
The researchers use the device, which is called a branched intracellular nanotube-FET (BIT-FET), to record intracellular signals in embryonic chicken cardiomyocyte cells. BIT-FETs can be made much smaller than the micropipettes and microelectrodes that are currently used to measure electrical signals in cells, although at present BIT-FETs have a worse signal-to-noise ratio.
Author contact:
Charles Lieber (Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 617 496 3169; E-mail: [email protected]
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Items from other Nature journals to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
NATURE (http://www.nature.com/nature)
[5] Antiparallel EmrE exports drugs by exchanging between asymmetric structures
DOI: 10.1038/nature10703
[6] A sensing array of radically coupled genetic ‘biopixels’
DOI: 10.1038/nature10722
[7] Basic amino-acid side chains regulate transmembrane integrin signalling
DOI: 10.1038/nature10697
[8] Subnanometre-resolution structure of the intact Thermus thermophilus H+-driven ATP synthase
DOI: 10.1038/nature10699
NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturebiotechnology)
[9] Optimized filtering reduces the error rate in detecting genomic variants by short-read sequencing
DOI: 10.1038/nbt.2053
[10] Performance comparison of whole-genome sequencing platforms
DOI: 10.1038/nbt.2065
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturecellbiology)
[11] The GDI-like solubilizing factor PDEd sustains the spatial organization and signalling of Ras family proteins
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2394
[12] The adaptor protein CRK is a pro-apoptotic transducer of endoplasmic reticulum stress
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2395
[13] Reprogramming of the tumour microenvironment by stromal PTEN-regulated miR-320
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2396
[14] Wnt7aFzd7 signalling directly activates the Akt/mTOR anabolic growth pathway in skeletal muscle
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2404
[15] A ciliopathy complex at the transition zone protects the cilia as a privileged membrane domain
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2410
NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/nchembio)
[16] Chemical informatics and target identification in a zebrafish phenotypic screen
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.732
[17] Knot formation in newly translated proteins is spontaneous and accelerated by chaperonins
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.742
[18] A ketosynthase homologue uses malonyl units to form esters in cervimycin biosynthesis
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.746
[19] How subunits cooperate in cAMP-induced activation of homotetrameric HCN2 channels
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.747
NATURE CHEMISTRY (http://www.nature.com/nchem)
[20] Enantioselective construction of quaternary N-heterocycles by palladium-catalysed decarboxylative allylic alkylation of lactams
DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1222
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE (http://www.nature.com/nclimate)
[21] Lack of uniform trends but increasing spatial variability in observed Indian rainfall extremes
DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1327
[22] Coral thermal tolerance shaped by local adaptation of photosymbionts
DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1330
[23] Microbial mediation of carbon-cycle feedbacks to climate warming
DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1331
[24] Effectiveness of stratospheric solar-radiation management as a function of climate sensitivity
DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1328
NATURE GENETICS (http://www.nature.com/naturegenetics)
[25] A chromatin-modifying function of JNK during stem cell differentiation
DOI: 10.1038/ng.1036
NATURE GEOSCIENCE (http://www.nature.com/ngeo)
[26] Large climate-driven changes of oceanic oxygen concentrations during the last deglaciation
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1352
[27] Formation and fate of oxidized mercury in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1353
[28] Satellite evidence for a large source of formic acid from boreal and tropical forests
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1354
NATURE MATERIALS (http://www.nature.com/naturematerials)
[29] Magnon-drag thermopile
DOI: 10.1038/nmat3201
[30] Observation of kinks and antikinks in colloidal monolayers driven across ordered surfaces
DOI: 10.1038/nmat3204
NATURE MEDICINE (http://www.nature.com/naturemedicine)
[31] ROS-induced ATF3 causes susceptibility to secondary infections during sepsis-associated immunosuppression
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2557
[32] Malaria impairs resistance to Salmonella through heme- and heme oxygenase-dependent dysfunctional granulocyte mobilization
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2601
[33] Sirt1 mediates neuroprotection from mutant huntingtin by activation of TORC1 and CREB transcriptional pathway
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2559
[34] Neuroprotective role of SIRT1 in mammalian models of Huntington's disease through activation of multiple SIRT1 targets
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2558
NATURE METHODS (http://www.nature.com/nmeth)
[35] Principles for applying optogenetic tools derived from direct comparative analysis of microbial opsins
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.1808
[36] Detection of structural variants and indels within exome data
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.1810
NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/nnano)
[37] Hole spin relaxation in Ge–Si core–shell nanowire qubits
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2011.234
[38] The properties and applications of nanodiamonds
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2011.209
[39] High-dynamic-range magnetometry with a single nuclear spin in diamond
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2011.224
[40] High-dynamic-range magnetometry with a single electronic spin in diamond
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2011.225
[41] Nanowire-based single-cell endoscopy
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2011.226
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE (http://www.nature.com/natureneuroscience)
[42] Rhes, a striatal-enriched small G-protein, mediates mTOR signaling and L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2994
[43] Heterogeneous reallocation of presynaptic efficacy in recurrent excitatory circuits adapting to inactivity
DOI: 10.1038/nn.3004
[44] Semaphorin3E-Plexin-D1 signaling controls pathway-specific synapse formation in the striatum
DOI: 10.1038/nn.3003
[45] Visual map development relies on the temporal pattern of binocular activity in mice
DOI: 10.1038/nn.3007
[46] A novel approach to manipulate the fate of single neural stem cells in tissue
DOI: 10.1038/nn.3008
NATURE PHOTONICS (http://www.nature.com/nphoton)
[47] Self-terminating diffraction gates femtosecond X-ray nanocrystallography measurements
DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2011.297
[48] High-efficiency inverted dithienogermole–thienopyrrolodione-based polymer solar cells
DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2011.317
[49] Optical parametric oscillation with distributed feedback in cold atoms
DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2011.320
[50] Strongly correlated photons on a chip
DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2011.321
NATURE PHYSICS (http://www.nature.com/naturephysics)
[51] High-fidelity quantum driving
DOI: 10.1038/nphys2170
[52] Protecting entanglement from decoherence using weak measurement and quantum measurement reversal
DOI: 10.1038/nphys2178
NATURE STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/natstructmolbiol)
[53] Mechanism of mismatch recognition revealed by human MutSb bound to unpaired DNA loops
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2175
[54] Tudor domain ERI-5 tethers an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase to DCR-1 to potentiate endo-RNAi
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2186
[55] The extracellular chaperone clusterin sequesters oligomeric forms of the amyloid-b1−40 peptide
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2191
[56] Signal-dependent dynamics of transcription factor translocation controls gene expression
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2192
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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
Brisbane: 11
Melbourne: 3
Sydney: 39
Townsville: 22
Wollongong: 28, 55
AUSTRIA
Vienna: 31
BELGIUM
Antwerp: 9
Brussels: 28
Duffel: 9
Heverlee: 28
Leuven: 3, 9
BRAZIL
Sao Paulo: 49
CANADA:
Calgary: 24
Montreal: 13, 26, 54
Ottawa: 14
Toronto: 8
CHINA
Beijing: 23, 34
Hunan: 23
Wuhan: 23
FRANCE
Orsay: 51
Paris: 28
GAMBIA
Banjul: 32
GERMANY
Bonn: 19
Borstel: 1
Braunschweig:
Bremen: 19, 28
Dortmund: 11
Dresden: 46
Garching: 47
Hamburg: 47
Heidelberg: 3, 46, 47
Jena: 18, 19
Munich: 47
Regensburg: 31
Schmalkalden: 19
Stuttgart: 30, 39
Tubingen: 18, 31, 49
Ulm: 39
INDIA
Mumbai: 21
ISRAEL
Rehovot: 35
ITALY
Naples: 42
Pisa: 51
SOUTH KOREA
Daejeon: 41, 42
Pohang: 52
Seoul: 31, 41
SPAIN
Barcelona: 29
Granada: 55
Valencia: 1
SWEDEN
Gothenburg: 47
Uppsala: 47
SWITZERLAND
Basel: 1, 3, 25
Lausanne: 34
Zurich: 26, 31, 50
UNITED KINGDOM
Ascot: 39
Cambridge: 3, 11, 17, 55
Exeter: 24
London: 1, 32
Oxford: 24
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Arizona
Tempe: 47
California
Berkeley: 23, 41, 47
La Jolla: 6, 7, 33
Livermore: 47
Los Angeles: 7, 34, 54
Menlo Park: 47
Palo Alto: 10
Pasadena: 20, 50
San Francisco: 1, 9, 12, 15, 16
Stanford: 10, 24, 35, 43
Connecticut
New Haven: 10, 45
Florida
Gainesville: 48
Illinois
Chicago: 38
Evanston: 38
Urbana: 5
Maryland
Baltimore: 34, 42
Bethesda: 53
Rockville: 32
Massachusetts
Boston: 1, 2, 21, 34, 44
Cambridge: 1, 2, 4, 16, 24, 33, 37, 50, 56
Charlestown: 16, 33
Waltham: 5
Worcester: 54
Minnesota
Rochester: 13
Missouri
St Louis: 5, 34
New York
Ithaca: 47
New York: 43
Rochester: 50
North Carolina
Chapel Hill: 16
Raleigh: 38
Ohio
Columbus: 13, 31
Oklahoma
Norman: 23, 34
Stillwater: 23
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia: 12, 21, 38
Pittsburgh: 24, 40
Tennessee
Nashville: 18
Oak Ridge: 21
Texas
Austin: 17
Washington
Bothell: 27
Seattle: 36
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PRESS CONTACTS…
For media inquiries relating to embargo policy for all the Nature Research Journals:
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Tel: +44 20 7843 4658; E-mail: [email protected]
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Tel: +1 212 726 9231; E-mail: [email protected]
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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:
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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
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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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