This press release contains:
---Summaries of newsworthy papers:
Genetics: A crop of genetic variants in maize
Methods: Tracking every cell in a developing embryo
Chemical Biology: Network approach to activating tumor cell death
Geoscience: Unexpected carbon sinks
Medicine: SRC-1’s role in endometriosis progression
Neuroscience: The mind’s eye
Medicine: Genetic regulator controls autoimmune disease
Immunology: Dampening lung inflammation
And finally…Nature: Eighth-century cosmic rays preserved in trees
---Geographical listing of authors
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1], [2] & [3] Genetics: A crop of genetic variants in maize
DOI: 10.1038/ng.2313
DOI: 10.1038/ng.2312
DOI: 10.1038/ng.2309
Re-sequencing of diverse varieties of maize from around the world is reported by three studies published online this week in Nature Genetics. The studies identify millions of genetic variants that should be useful for maize geneticists and breeders to further improve crop yield.
Maize is an important cereal crop, but its genome is very large—about the size of the human genome—and substantially more diverse than the human genome. It has been technically challenging to comprehensively characterize the enormous wealth of genomic diversity present in this crop.
Doreen Ware and colleagues performed re-sequencing of 103 maize lines, including 60 improved maize lines, 23 maize landraces and 19 wild relatives of maize. They also generated sequence for a sister genus of maize, Tripsacum dactyloides (Eastern gamagrass). They identified 55 million single nucleotide polymorphisms, which is a large resource for the maize genetics and breeding community. Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra and colleagues analyzed this dataset to identify regions of the genome that were selected for during the initial phase of domestication, as well as subsequent improvement of maize landraces to modern maize. They identify a large number of genes that appear to have been selected for during the transformation of wild to modern maize.
Finally, Jinsheng Lai and colleagues performed re-sequencing of 278 maize lines. They performed comprehensive characterization of sequence variation present in these diverse maize lines, and identified a number of genetic regions that display evidence of selection during maize domestication.
Author contacts:
Doreen Ware (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY, USA) Author paper [1]
Tel: +1 516 367 6979; E-mail: [email protected]
Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra (University of California, Davis, CA, USA) Author paper [2]
Tel: +1 530 752 1152; E-mail: [email protected]
Jinsheng Lai (China Agricultural University, Beijing, China) Author paper [3]
Tel: +86 10 62731405; E-mail: [email protected]
---
[4] & [5] Methods: Tracking every cell in a developing embryo
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.2062
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.2064
Powerful microscopes capable of three-dimensional imaging and tracking of the cells in a developing fly embryo are described by two independent studies published online this week in Nature Methods.
Philipp Keller and colleagues and Lars Hufnagel and colleagues independently designed and built similar microscope systems that allow fast three-dimensional imaging of fluorescently labelled cells throughout an embryo—up to several millimeters in size—every 30 seconds or less. By illuminating the specimen with two independent and perpendicular sheets of light and imaging from two sides, they achieved sufficient speed and resolution to track fast-moving individual cells, as well as changes in their shape at a subcellular scale; the technique was able to image an entire fly embryo for up to 20 hours until the embryo hatched and the larvae crawled away.
These microscope systems acquire hundreds of megabytes of image data every second and should allow for the observation of small living organisms in their entirety at a previously inaccessible level of detail.
Author contacts:
Philipp Keller (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA)
Tel: +1 571 209 4178; E-mail: [email protected]
Lars Hufnagel (EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany)
Tel: +49 6221 387 8648; E-mail: [email protected]
---
[6] Chemical Biology: Network approach to activating tumor cell death
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.965
New targets that when inhibited in combination with the activation of p53 can lead to cancer cell death are reported this week in Nature Chemical Biology.
p53 is a tumor suppressor that regulates cellular response to various stresses and it is known that the activation of p53 can promote cell death. The activation of p53 in cancer cells often results in reversible growth arrest rather than death of the cells. However, the pathways that govern cellular response—growth arrest versus death—in response to p53 activation are not well understood.
Joaquin Espinosa and colleagues perform a genome-wide screen to identify genes that modify response to the activation of p53 in cells that undergo growth arrest compared to those that die. They identify several pathways that were previously not known to impact a cell’s response to p53, and demonstrate that inhibition of the protein kinases ATM and MET in combination with activation of p53 promotes cell death. As inhibitors for both of these kinases are available but were set aside as they were not effective alone, the authors recommend that these drugs could be revisited and tested in combination with agents such as Nutlin-3 that activate p53.
Author contact:
Joaquin Espinosa (University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA)
Tel +1 303 492 2857; E-mail [email protected]
---
[7] Geoscience: Unexpected carbon sinks
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1486
Activity by organisms such as lichens, fungi and algae accounts for nearly half of the land-based conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into a chemical form that is useable by most plants, reports a study published online this week in Nature Geoscience. Because bio-available nitrogen often limits plant growth, this process could be crucial for carbon sequestration by plants.
Ulrich Poeschl and colleagues re-analysed published data on the spatial coverage of organisms that synthesize their own food from inorganic substances with the help of sunlight, such as lichens, fungi and algae. Based on their analysis of data on fluxes of carbon and nitrogen in a range of ecosystems, they estimate that these organisms contribute about 7% of the net primary production of the terrestrial vegetation, in addition to their role in the nitrogen cycle.
Author contact:
Ulrich Poeschl (Max-Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany)
Tel: +49 6131 305 6201; E-mail: [email protected]
---
[8] Medicine: SRC-1’s role in endometriosis progression
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2826
The role that a particular steroid receptor coactivator, SRC-1, plays in the progression of endometriosis is elucidated in a paper published online in Nature Medicine this week. The work suggests that this protein could be used as a molecular target for the therapy of this disease.
Endometriosis is considered to be an estrogen-dependent inflammatory disease of the uterus. Previously, Bert W O’Malley and colleagues found lowered amounts of the full length SRC-1 protein in endometriotic tissue but how it contributes to disease progression remains unknown.
The authors now find that a previously unidentified truncated form of the protein, 70-kDa SRC-1, is highly elevated both in the endometriotic tissue of mice with surgically induced endometriosis and in endometriotic cells of the microenvironment of tissue samples from individuals with the disease. This increase is caused in response to signalling from the inflammatory mediator TNF-alpha.
The authors therefore propose a new pathogenic pathway, involving a shorter form of SRC-1, for the progression of endometriosis. The finding also suggests that the TNF-alpha therapy, etanercept, may be useful to treat this disease.
Author contact:
Bert W O’Malley (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA)
Tel: +1 713 798 6205; E-mail: [email protected]
---
[9] Neuroscience: The mind’s eye
DOI: 10.1038/nn.3131
Activity in the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) of the human brain could be the signature of visual perception, according to a study published online this week in Nature Neuroscience. These results suggest that signals in the TPJ support conscious awareness.
Previous work suggested that the TPJ is critical for detecting salient or unexpected stimuli, and damage to this area can result in spatial neglect, a deficit in the control of attention.
Michael Beauchamp and colleagues worked with patients who had electrodes implanted into their brains for surgical treatment of epilepsy. They stimulated an area in the early visual system of each person’s brain with low intensity electrical pulses that sometimes evoked the perception of a flash of light and sometimes did not. They found that people only reported seeing a light on occasions when there was also a response in the TPJ. The authors found that disruption of signals in the TPJ decreased the detectability of a barely visible visual target, further linking this brain area to visual perception.
Author contact:
Michael Beauchamp (University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX, USA)
Tel: +1 713 500 5978; E-mail: [email protected]
---
[10] Medicine: Genetic regulator controls autoimmune disease
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2815
A class of genetic regulators called microRNAs can directly influence the severity of inflammatory diseases reports a study published online this week in Nature Medicine. Moreover, an inflammatory response can be amplified by turning off microRNAs, pointing to novel ways to decrease damaging inflammatory responses by influencing genetic regulatory programs.
Increased amounts of the cytokine interleukin-17 (IL-17) are found in several autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. This cytokine promotes inflammatory damage by influencing the development of circulating immune cells. Youcun Qian and colleagues found that IL-17 can also contribute to this damage by suppressing a specific microRNA called miR-23b in cells residing in tissues. IL-17 amounts were elevated in the kidney and joint of individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis, respectively, whereas the expression of miR-23b was decreased. The authors found a direct relationship between these two molecules in three mouse models of autoimmune disease—lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis—with IL-17 reducing the expression of miR-23b. Its overexpression, in turn, blocked autoimmune disease development in these mouse models.
Author contact:
Youcun Qian (Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, China)
Tel: +86 21 6385 2804; E-mail: [email protected]
---
[11] Immunology: Dampening lung inflammation
DOI: 10.1038/ni.2341
The way in which the inflammatory activity of the cytokine IL-33 is controlled is explained in a paper in Nature Immunology this week. IL-33 plays an important role in inflammatory conditions of the lung, such as asthma and understanding how this pathway is regulated may provide a strategy to ease such inflammatory conditions.
IL-33 mediates its effects exclusively through its receptor ST2L which led Yutong Zhao and colleagues to look at ways in which this interaction could be regulated. They identified an intracellular molecule called FBXL19 which binds directly to ST2L causing it to be degraded, thereby blunting the inflammatory action of IL-33. Loss of FBXL19 exacerbated the symptoms of lung inflammation whereas an overabundance of this molecule dampened inflammation. Because of the widespread expression of ST2L, the authors conclude that FBXL19 likely plays a generalized role in controlling the pro-inflammatory effects of IL-33.
Author contact:
Yutong Zhao (University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA)
Tel: +1 412 648 9488; E-mail: [email protected]
---
[12] And finally…Nature: Eighth-century cosmic rays preserved in trees
DOI: 10.1038/nature11123
A rapid rise in radiocarbon around AD 775 measured in tree rings is attributed to an increase of cosmic-ray intensity in a Nature paper this week. Cosmic rays are thought to originate from a variety of sources, and the specific cause of this cosmic-ray event remains to be determined, but this study suggests that neither a solar flare nor a local supernova is likely to have been responsible.
Rises in the carbon-14 (14C) content of trees in the past 3,000 years have been detected in previous studies, but none have shown increases on the timescale of around one year. Achieving this resolution, Fusa Miyake and colleagues report radiocarbon measurements in annual rings of Japanese cedar trees that demonstrate a rapid increase in 14C content, around 12‰ (1.2%), from AD 774 to AD 775. These findings are consistent with data from North American and European trees and from Antarctic ice cores, indicating that elevated 14C resulted from an increase in cosmic-ray intensity.
The authors rule out solar flares as the cause because the 14C spike is around 20 times larger than expected from this solar activity. Likewise, the rapid increase in 14C is not consistent with a supernova explosion, and no such events have been recorded for this time.
Author contact:
Fusa Miyake (Nagoya University, Japan)
Tel: +81 52 789 4318; E-mail: [email protected]
***************************************************************************************************************
NATURE
[13] Neural population dynamics during reaching
DOI: 10.1038/nature11129
[14] Structure of the immature retroviral capsid at 8Å resolution by cryo-electron microscopy
DOI: 10.1038/nature 11169
[15] Programmable single-cell mammalian biocomputers
DOI: 10.1038/nature 11149
[16] PGC7 binds histone H3K9me2 to protect against conversion of 5mC to 5hmC in early embryos
DOI: 10.1038/nature 11093
[17] Autoregulation of microRNA biogenesis by let-7 and Argonaute
DOI: 10.1038/nature 11134
[18] A map of nucleosome positions in yeast at base-pair resolution
DOI: 10.1038/nature 11142
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY
[19] Syndecan–syntenin–ALIX regulates the biogenesis of exosomes
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2502
[20] Genome-wide RNAi screening identifies human proteins with a regulatory function in the early secretory pathway
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2510
[21] MPS1/Mph1 phosphorylates the kinetochore protein KNL1/Spc7 to recruit SAC components
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2515
NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
[22] KlenTaq polymerase replicates unnatural base pairs by inducing a Watson-Crick geometry
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.966
NATURE CHEMISTRY
[23] Mechanically induced chemiluminescence from polymers incorporating a 1,2-dioxetane unit in the main chain
DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1358
[24] An ultrasensitive universal detector based on neutralizer displacement
DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1367
[25] Closed-shell and open-shell square-planar iridium nitrido complexes
DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1368
[26] Single solvent molecules can affect the dynamics of substitution reactions
DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1362
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE
[27] Vulnerability of US and European electricity supply to climate change
DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1546
[28] Transfer payments in global climate policy
DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1548
[29] Eurasian Arctic greening reveals teleconnections and the potential for structurally novel ecosystems
DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1558
NATURE GENETICS
[30] The beet R locus encodes a new cytochrome P450 required for red betalain production
DOI: 10.1038/ng.2297
NATURE IMMUNOLOGY
[31] Photocrosslinkable pMHC monomers stain T cells specifically and cause ligand-bound TCRs to be ‘preferentially’ transported to the cSMAC
DOI: 10.1038/ni.2344
NATURE MATERIALS
[32] A partially interpenetrated metal–organic framework for selective hysteretic sorption of carbon dioxide
DOI: 10.1038/nmat3343
NATURE MEDICINE
[33] Viral delivery of miR-196a ameliorates the spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy phenotype via the silencing of CUGBP, Elav-like family member 2
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2791
NATURE METHODS
[34] Single cell systems biology by super-resolution imaging and combinatorial labeling
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.2069
NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY
[35] Molecularly self-assembled nucleic acid nanoparticles for targeted in vivo siRNA delivery
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2012.73
[36] Protein–inorganic hybrid nanoflowers
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2012.80
[37] Flexible molecular-scale electronic devices
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2012.81
[38] Dual-gated bilayer graphene hot-electron bolometer
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2012.88
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
[39] Rational regulation of learning dynamics by pupil-linked arousal systems
DOI: 10.1038/nn.3130
[40] State- and location-dependence of action potential metabolic cost in cortical pyramidal neurons
DOI: 10.1038/nn.3132
[41] Structure and functional interaction of the extracellular domain of human GABAB receptor GBR2
DOI: 10.1038/nn.3133
NATURE PHYSICS
[42] Quantum interference and phonon-mediated back-action in lateral quantum-dot circuits
DOI: 10.1038/nphys2326
[43] Highly efficient spin transport in epitaxial graphene on SiC
DOI: 10.1038/nphys2331
[44] Multiscale photosynthetic and biomimetic excitation energy transfer
DOI: 10.1038/nphys2332
[45] Emergent rank-5 nematic order in URu2Si2
DOI: 10.1038/nphys2330
NATURE STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
[46] AMP-activated protein kinase undergoes nucleotide-dependent conformational changes
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2319
[47] Duplex interrogation by a direct DNA repair protein in search of base damage
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2320
[48] Intronic RNAs mediate EZH2 regulation of epigenetic targets
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2315
***************************************************************************************************************
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
Canberra: 40
St Lucia: 44
AUSTRIA
Innsbruck: 26
Laxenburg: 27
Vienna: 31
BELGIUM
Heverlee: 19
Leuven: 19
CANADA:
Montreal: 42
Ottawa: 42
Sherbrooke: 42
Toronto: 24
Winnipeg: 10
CHINA
Beijing: 1, 2, 3, 36, 46, 47
Chengdu: 1
Shanghai: 10, 19, 46, 47
Shenzen: 1, 3
CZECH REPUBLIC
Prague: 14
FINLAND
Joensuu: 29
Rovaniemi: 29
FRANCE
Gif-sur-Yvette: 1
Grenoble: 43, 46
Montpellier: 41
Orsay: 43
Palaiseau: 43
GERMANY
Erlangen: 25
Frankfurt: 7
Freiburg: 26
Goettingen: 25, 40
Hamburg: 26
Heidelberg: 5, 14, 20
Julich: 27
Kaiserslautern: 7
Konstanz: 22
Leipzig: 40
Mainz: 7
Mulheim an der Ruhr: 25
Munich: 42
Regensburg: 42
IRELAND
Dublin: 20
JAPAN
Chiba: 45
Ibaraki: 16
Kyoto: 16, 45
Nagoya: 12, 33
Osaka: 16
Shiga: 16
Tochigi: 33
Tokyo: 21, 45
KENYA
Nairobi: 1
MEXICO
Texcoco: 1
NETHERLANDS
Amsterdam: 25, 40
Eindhoven: 23
Maastricht: 46
Wageningen: 27
SOUTH KOREA
Gwangju: 37
Pohang: 45
Seoul: 37
SPAIN
Barcelona: 48
SWEDEN
Stockholm: 17
SWITZERLAND
Basel: 15
Zurich: 28
UNITED KINGDOM
Cambridge: 13
Didcot: 32
Newcastle: 32
Nottingham: 32
Oxford: 29
Warrington: 32
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Arizona
Maricopa: 1
Tempe: 3
California
Davis: 1, 3
Irvine: 1
La Jolla: 17, 22, 26
Los Angeles: 37
Palo Alto: 13
Pasadena: 34
San Diego: 22
San Francisco: 31
Stanford: 13, 31, 36
Colorado
Aurora: 6
Boulder: 6
Georgia
Atlanta: 43
Illinois
Chicago: 47
Evanston: 18
Kansas
Manhattan: 1
Maryland
College Park: 38
Massachusetts
Boston: 35
Cambridge: 35
Michigan
East Lansing: 30
Minnesota
St Paul: 3
Missouri
Columbia: 1, 3
New Jersey
Princeton: 39
New York
Cold Spring Harbor: 1, 3
Ithaca: 1, 3
New York: 13, 41
North Carolina
Durham: 31
Ohio
Cincinnati: 10
Oregon
Portland: 46
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia: 39
Pittsburgh: 11
Texas
Austin: 30
Houston: 8, 9, 37
Virginia
Ashburn: 4
Washington
Seattle: 27
Wisconsin
Madison: 1, 3, 30
---
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]
Eiji Matsuda (Nature Tokyo)
Tel: +81 3 3267 8751; 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)
Rory Howlett
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)
Ray Parker
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)
Michelle Montoya
Tel: +1 212 726 9331; E-mail: [email protected]
---
About Nature Publishing Group (NPG):
Nature Publishing Group (NPG) is a publisher of high impact scientific and medical information in print and online. NPG publishes journals, online databases and services across the life, physical, chemical and applied sciences and clinical medicine.
Focusing on the needs of scientists, Nature (founded in 1869) is the leading weekly, international scientific journal. In addition, for this audience, NPG publishes a range of Nature research journals and Nature Reviews journals, plus a range of prestigious academic journals including society-owned publications. Online, nature.com provides over 5 million visitors per month with access to NPG publications and online databases and services, including Nature News and NatureJobs plus access to Nature Network and Nature Education’s Scitable.com.
Scientific American is at the heart of NPG’s newly-formed consumer media division, meeting the needs of the general public. Founded in 1845, Scientific American is the oldest continuously published magazine in the US and the leading authoritative publication for science in the general media. Together with scientificamerican.com and 15 local language editions around the world it reaches over 3 million consumers and scientists. Other titles include Scientific American Mind and Spektrum der Wissenschaft in Germany.
Throughout all its businesses NPG is dedicated to serving the scientific and medical communities and the wider scientifically interested general public. Part of Macmillan Publishers Limited, NPG is a global company with principal offices in London, New York and Tokyo, and offices in cities worldwide including Boston, Buenos Aires, Delhi, Hong Kong, Madrid, Barcelona, Munich, Heidelberg, Basingstoke, Melbourne, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul and Washington DC. For more information, please go to www.nature.com.
---
PICTURES: To obtain artwork from any of the journals, you must first obtain permission from the copyright holder (if named) or author of the research paper in question (if not).
NOTE: Once a paper is published, the digital object identifier (DOI) number can be used to retrieve the abstract and full text from the journal web site (abstracts are available to everyone, full text is available only to subscribers). To do this, add the DOI to the following URL: http://dx.doi.org/ (For example, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng730). For more information about DOIs and Advance Online Publication, see http://www.nature.com/ng/aop/.
HYPE: We take great care not to hype the papers mentioned on our press releases, but are sometimes accused of doing so. If you ever consider that a story has been hyped, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected], citing the specific example.
