nature

THIS WEEK

Editorials

The democracy carousel ▶

European law has allowed citizens to force a debate on human embryonic stem cells less than a year after the previous one. This fruitless democratic exercise has left scientists spinning in uncertainty.

Cancer crossroads ▶

Efforts to understand cancer genomes should take on a fresh focus.

Practical nonsense ▶

Downgrading practical science will impede UK students in the global workplace

World View

Beware of backroom deals in the name of 'science' ▶

The term 'sound science' has become Orwellian double-speak for various forms of pro-business spin, says Colin Macilwain.

Seven Days

Seven days: 11–17 April 2014 ▶

The week in science: Japan reapproves use of nuclear power, second sighting of an exotic tetraquark, and biotech stocks plunge.

NEWS IN FOCUS

Hepatitis C drugs not reaching poor ▶

Treatment guidelines for virus highlight challenge of paying for expensive drugs in low-income countries.

Sperm RNA carries marks of trauma ▶

Stress alters the expression of small RNAs in male mice and leads to depressive behaviours in later generations.

Panel homes in on sites for γ-ray detector ▶

Cherenkov Telescope Array will track high-energy photons to probe black holes, dark matter and relativity.

IPCC report under fire ▶

Critics attack panel’s lack of specific guidance on how countries should lower emissions.

Biologist defiant over stem-cell method ▶

Japanese author of controversial papers denies wrongdoing and stands by results as testing of her protocol begins.

Mini satellites prove their scientific power ▶

Proliferation of ‘CubeSats’ offers fresh and fast way to gather space data.

Features

Power from the oceans: Blue energy ▶

After years in the doldrums, the quest to harvest energy from the oceans is gathering speed.

Toxicology: The plastics puzzle ▶

When toxicologists warned that the plastics ingredient BPA might be harmful, consumers clamoured for something new. But problems persist.

COMMENT

Policy: Bring sustainable energy to the developing world ▶

Investment and policies must support cheap, clean energy technologies to cut both poverty and climate change, say Reid Detchon and Richenda Van Leeuwen.

Publishing: Credit where credit is due ▶

Liz Allen, Amy Brand, Jo Scott, Micah Altman and Marjorie Hlava are trialling digital taxonomies to help researchers to identify their contributions to collaborative projects.

Books and Arts

Astronomy: Art of the eclipse ▶

As the next solar eclipse approaches, Jay M. Pasachoff and Roberta J. M. Olson ponder how artists from the early Renaissance onwards have interpreted the phenomenon.

Geology: Parsing eruptions ▶

Ted Nield weighs up histories of two momentous volcanic events in Iceland and Indonesia.

Animal behaviour: Nomads of necessity ▶

Joel Greenberg casts an ornithologist's eye on a wide-ranging reading of animal migration.

Books in brief ▶

Correspondence

Energy: China leads the way on renewables John A. Mathews, Hao Tan | Rechargeables: Vanadium batteries will be cost-effective Huamin Zhang | Reproducibility: A trading scheme to reduce false results Michael E. McCullough, David L. Kelly | Animal models: Mouse already being charted gene by gene Steve Brown | Laboratory training: Experimentation is science's lifeblood John Skoyles

Corrections

Correction ▶

Correction ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Reproductive biology: Sperm protein finds its mate ▶

Paul M. Wassarman

Juno is the egg Izumo receptor and is essential for mammalian fertilization ▶

Enrica Bianchi, Brendan Doe, David Goulding et al.

The egg receptor for Izumo, a sperm cell-surface protein required for male fertility, is identified here and renamed Juno; these findings show that the Izumo–Juno interaction is conserved within mammals, and open new opportunities for the development of fertility treatments and contraceptives.

Predicting biodiversity change and averting collapse in agricultural landscapes ▶

Chase D. Mendenhall, Daniel S. Karp, Christoph F. J. Meyer et al.

A new, holistic view of countryside biogeography is emerging for the world’s human-modified habitats and the biodiversity they support.

NRROS negatively regulates reactive oxygen species during host defence and autoimmunity ▶

Rajkumar Noubade, Kit Wong, Naruhisa Ota et al.

The leucine-rich repeat protein NRROS which resides in the endoplasmic reticulum regulates phagocytic NADPH oxidase, minimizing collateral tissue damage caused by reactive oxygen species during inflammatory processes.

Caspase-11 activation requires lysis of pathogen-containing vacuoles by IFN-induced GTPases ▶

Etienne Meunier, Mathias S. Dick, Roland F. Dreier et al.

Interferon-inducible GTPases are required for the release of vacuolar Gram-negative bacteria into the cytoplasm and subsequent inflammasome-mediated caspase-11 activation.

Coordination of entorhinal–hippocampal ensemble activity during associative learning ▶

Kei M. Igarashi, Li Lu, Laura L. Colgin et al.

Simultaneous recordings from hippocampus and entorhinal cortex in rats show that as the animals learn odour guidance cues during their exploration of two-dimensional space in the laboratory, ensembles of coherently firing neurons emerge in both locations, with cortical–hippocampal oscillatory coupling occurring in a specific range of the beta-gamma frequency band.

Structural basis of Sec-independent membrane protein insertion by YidC ▶

Kaoru Kumazaki, Shinobu Chiba, Mizuki Takemoto et al.

The crystal structure of the bacterial protein YidC is reported, together with a structure-based functional analysis, providing insight into the role of YidC in inserting single-spanning membrane proteins into the membrane.

Listeria monocytogenes exploits efferocytosis to promote cell-to-cell spread ▶

Mark A. Czuczman, Ramzi Fattouh, Jorik M. van Rijn et al.

The intracellular bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes is shown to exploit efferocytosis—the process by which dead or dying cells are removed by phagocytosis—to promote cell-to-cell spread during infection.

Scalable control of mounting and attack by Esr1⁺ neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus ▶

Hyosang Lee, Dong-Wook Kim, Ryan Remedios et al.

Activation of Esr1+ neurons of the mouse ventromedial hypothalamus initiates graded social behavioural responses–weak activation triggers close investigation (sniffing) during a social encounter that often leads, with continued stimulation, to mounting behaviours by males towards either gender; mounting behaviour transitions to aggressive attacks with greater stimulation intensity.

Reconstructing lineage hierarchies of the distal lung epithelium using single-cell RNA-seq ▶

Barbara Treutlein, Doug G. Brownfield, Angela R. Wu et al.

Single-cell transcriptome analysis enables the direct measurement of cell types and lineage hierarchies of the developing distal lung epithelium and identifies a population of bipotential alveolar progenitor cells.

Dynamics and associations of microbial community types across the human body ▶

Tao Ding, Patrick D. Schloss

The microbiome composition of 300 individuals sampled over 12–18 months was partitioned into microbial community types, which could be associated with the type found at other body sites, as well as with whether individuals were breastfed as an infant, their gender and their level of education.

A Palaeozoic shark with osteichthyan-like branchial arches ▶

Alan Pradel, John G. Maisey, Paul Tafforeau et al.

A description of the gill skeleton of a very early fossil shark-like fish shows that it bears more resemblance to gill skeletons from bony fishes rather than to those from modern cartilaginous fishes, suggesting that modern sharks are not anatomically primitive, as previously thought.

Oncogene-like induction of cellular invasion from centrosome amplification ▶

Susana A. Godinho, Remigio Picone, Mithila Burute et al.

Cancer cells often have extra centrosomes, a paradox considering the detrimental effect extra centrosomes usually have on cell division; a study of human cells reveals that extra centrosomes can promote cancer cell invasion phenotypes through a pathway involving increased microtubule nucleation and Rac1 activity.

Focused specificity of intestinal T_H17 cells towards commensal bacterial antigens ▶

Yi Yang, Miriam B. Torchinsky, Michael Gobert et al.

Segmented filamentous bacteria drive the acquisition of the T_H17 phenotype in an antigen-specific manner; these findings begin to elucidate how gut-induced T_H17 cells can contribute to distal organ-specific autoimmune disease.

Articles and Letters

Domains of genome-wide gene expression dysregulation in Down’s syndrome ▶

Audrey Letourneau, Federico A. Santoni, Ximena Bonilla et al.

By studying the transcriptome of fetal cells of monozygotic twins discordant for trisomy 21, this paper finds that differential expression between the twins is organized in domains along all chromosomes; these gene expression dysregulation domains are conserved in the mouse model of Down’s syndrome and correlate with the lamina-associated domains and replication domains.

Brainstem nucleus MdV mediates skilled forelimb motor tasks ▶

Maria Soledad Esposito, Paolo Capelli, Silvia Arber

The authors use a combination of viral tracing and genetics to characterize the diversity of neurons projecting from mouse brainstem to motor neurons that control limb movements; in particular they discover that the medullary reticular formation ventral part (MdV) is functionally specialized for skilled forelimb motor control.

Skilled reaching relies on a V2a propriospinal internal copy circuit ▶

Eiman Azim, Juan Jiang, Bror Alstermark et al.

Cervical propriospinal neurons (PNs) form a genetically accessible subclass of V2a interneurons that convey both premotor output and precerebellar copy signals; their ablation in mice impairs reaching movements selectively, and activation of their internal copy projection recruits a rapid cerebellar feedback loop that modulates forelimb movement.

A new fossil species supports an early origin for toothed whale echolocation ▶

Jonathan H. Geisler, Matthew W. Colbert, James L. Carew

Phylogenetic analysis of a new species of fossil toothed whale, Cotylocara macei, from the Oligocene epoch places it in a basal clade of odontocetes, and its features suggest that rudimentary echolocation evolved in the early Oligocene and was followed by convergent evolution in their skulls.

Rapid and tunable post-translational coupling of genetic circuits ▶

Arthur Prindle, Jangir Selimkhanov, Howard Li et al.

Protease competition is used to produce rapid and tunable coupling of genetic circuits, enabling a coupled clock network that can encode independent environmental cues into a single time series output, a form of frequency multiplexing in a genetic circuit context.

Apical constriction drives tissue-scale hydrodynamic flow to mediate cell elongation ▶

Bing He, Konstantin Doubrovinski, Oleg Polyakov et al.

The lengthening phase of ventral furrow formation in Drosophila gastrulation is driven by cytoplasmic flows triggered by apical constriction of mesoderm cells independent of the mechanical inputs from the basolateral membranes.

A committed precursor to innate lymphoid cells ▶

Michael G. Constantinides, Benjamin D. McDonald, Philip A. Verhoef et al.

A committed precursor to innate lymphoid cell lineages, but not classical natural killer and lymphoid tissue inducer cells, is derived from common lymphoid precursors and distinguished by high levels of expression of the transcription factor PLZF.

Protection against filovirus diseases by a novel broad-spectrum nucleoside analogue BCX4430 ▶

Travis K. Warren, Jay Wells, Rekha G. Panchal et al.

A broad-spectrum antiviral small molecule is reported to act as an inhibitor of viral polymerase activity and is shown to be effective in protecting non-human primates from lethal filovirus infection when administered after exposure.

Caenorhabditis elegans pathways that surveil and defend mitochondria ▶

Ying Liu, Buck S. Samuel, Peter C. Breen et al.

A genome-wide RNA interference screen in Caenorhabditis elegans identifies 45 genes with roles in protective pathways following drug- and genetic-disruption-induced mitochondrial inhibition.

miRNAs trigger widespread epigenetically activated siRNAs from transposons in Arabidopsis ▶

Kate M. Creasey, Jixian Zhai, Filipe Borges et al.

The generation of widespread epigenetically activated short interfering RNAs by the targeting of microRNAs to transposon transcripts in Arabidopsis thaliana is shown to be a latent mechanism that only becomes active when the transcripts are epigenetically reactivated, for example, during reprogramming of the germ line.

Structural basis for translocation by AddAB helicase–nuclease and its arrest at χ sites ▶

Wojciech W. Krajewski, Xin Fu, Martin Wilkinson et al.

A dual-function helicase–nuclease, typified by RecBCD in Escherichia coli, acts on free DNA ends during bacterial double-stranded break repair until it reaches a χ sequence at which it pauses before continuing with modified enzymatic properties; here several crystal structures of the related AddAB enzyme from Bacillus subtilis bound to χ-containing DNA are presented, offering insight into χ recognition and its effect on DNA translocation.

Reviews and Perspectives

The ensemble nature of allostery ▶

Hesam N. Motlagh, James O. Wrabl, Jing Li et al.

Allostery is the process by which biological macromolecules transmit the effect of binding at one site to another, often distal, functional site, allowing for the regulation of activity; here facilitation of allostery through dynamic and intrinsically disordered proteins is discussed, and a framework to unify the description of allosteric mechanisms for different systems is proposed.

News & Views

Evolutionary biology: Dating chimpanzees ▶

Michael Haslam

Genetics: Up and down in Down's syndrome ▶

Benjamin D. Pope, David M. Gilbert

Synthetic biology: Biocircuits in synchrony ▶

Ricard Solé, Javier Macía

Cell biology: The stressful influence of microbes ▶

Suzanne Wolff, Andrew Dillin

Reproductive biology: Sperm protein finds its mate ▶

Paul M. Wassarman

Corrigenda

Corrigendum: Ptpn11 deletion in a novel progenitor causes metachondromatosis by inducing hedgehog signalling ▶

Wentian Yang, Jianguo Wang, Douglas C. Moore et al.

Corrigendum: Identification of pre-leukaemic haematopoietic stem cells in acute leukaemia ▶

Liran I. Shlush, Sasan Zandi, Amanda Mitchell et al.

Corrigendum: Regulatory evolution through divergence of a phosphoswitch in the transcription factor CEBPB ▶

Vincent J. Lynch, Gemma May, Günter P. Wagner

Research Highlights

Ecology: Fallen trees form a sea-floor feast | Evolution: Ancient lion DNA yields family tree | Conservation biology: Unique birds top conservation list | Neurobiology: Surprising effects of prion drug | Neuroscience: Turn on the light to make myelin | Biomechanics: Fast moves of fleeing fruit flies | Lionfish prove a main draw on Twitter

NEWS & COMMENT

The democracy carousel | Cancer crossroads | Toxicology: The plastics puzzle | Animal behaviour: Nomads of necessity | Books in brief | Animal models: Mouse already being charted gene by gene | Correction | Hepatitis C drugs not reaching poor | Biologist defiant over stem-cell method | Power from the oceans: Blue energy | Sperm RNA carries marks of trauma

More Biological Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Listeria monocytogenes exploits efferocytosis to promote cell-to-cell spread ▶

Mark A. Czuczman, Ramzi Fattouh, Jorik M. van Rijn et al.

The intracellular bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes is shown to exploit efferocytosis—the process by which dead or dying cells are removed by phagocytosis—to promote cell-to-cell spread during infection.

News & Views

Genetics: Up and down in Down's syndrome ▶

Benjamin D. Pope, David M. Gilbert

Corrigenda

Corrigendum: Ptpn11 deletion in a novel progenitor causes metachondromatosis by inducing hedgehog signalling ▶

Wentian Yang, Jianguo Wang, Douglas C. Moore et al.

Corrigendum: Identification of pre-leukaemic haematopoietic stem cells in acute leukaemia ▶

Liran I. Shlush, Sasan Zandi, Amanda Mitchell et al.

Research Highlights

Neurobiology: Surprising effects of prion drug

NEWS & COMMENT

The democracy carousel | Cancer crossroads | Animal models: Mouse already being charted gene by gene | Correction | Hepatitis C drugs not reaching poor | Biologist defiant over stem-cell method

More Health Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Articles and Letters

Enantioselective construction of remote quaternary stereocentres ▶

Tian-Sheng Mei, Harshkumar H. Patel, Matthew S. Sigman

A catalytic and enantioselective intermolecular Heck-type reaction of trisubstituted-alkenyl alcohols with aryl boronic acids provides direct access to quaternary stereocentres remote from a carbonyl group.

Isotopic links between atmospheric chemistry and the deep sulphur cycle on Mars ▶

Heather B. Franz, Sang-Tae Kim, James Farquhar et al.

Isotopic analyses of 40 Martian meteorites indicate that assimilation of sulphur into Martian magmas was a common occurrence throughout much of the planet’s history and that the atmospheric imprint of photochemical processing preserved in Martian meteoritic sulphide and sulphate is distinct from that observed in terrestrial analogues.

Coherent suppression of electromagnetic dissipation due to superconducting quasiparticles ▶

Ioan M. Pop, Kurtis Geerlings, Gianluigi Catelani et al.

The long-predicted suppression of quasiparticle dissipation in a Josephson junction when the phase difference across the junction is is inferred from a sharp maximum in the energy relaxation time of a superconducting artificial atom.

Ultralow thermal conductivity and high thermoelectric figure of merit in SnSe crystals ▶

Li-Dong Zhao, Shih-Han Lo, Yongsheng Zhang et al.

The main obstacle to improving the thermoelectric efficiency of a material arises from the common interdependence of electrical and thermal conductivity, whereas one ideally wants to raise the former while lowering the latter: a simple layered crystalline material — SnSe — is now reported that seems to have these qualities built in.

News & Views

Organic chemistry: Catalysis marches on ▶

James P. Morken

Thermoelectricity: The ugly duckling ▶

Joseph P. Heremans

Research Highlights

Photonics: Light goes one way on a chip | Materials: Printer squirts out nanotubes | Biomechanics: Fast moves of fleeing fruit flies

NEWS & COMMENT

Toxicology: The plastics puzzle | Policy: Bring sustainable energy to the developing world | Mini satellites prove their scientific power | Astronomy: Art of the eclipse | Energy: China leads the way on renewables | Panel homes in on sites for γ-ray detector | Power from the oceans: Blue energy

More Physical Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Climate science: Sea levels from ancient seashells ▶

Ralph Schneider

Sea-level and deep-sea-temperature variability over the past 5.3 million years ▶

E. J. Rohling, G. L. Foster, K. M. Grant et al.

A novel approach to the estimation of sea level and deep-sea temperature has been used to determine these quantities over the past 5.3 million years; this approach, based on oxygen isotope records from the eastern Mediterranean, shows that temperature and sea-level histories are broadly correlated but also show intriguing temporal offsets.

Articles and Letters

Isotopic links between atmospheric chemistry and the deep sulphur cycle on Mars ▶

Heather B. Franz, Sang-Tae Kim, James Farquhar et al.

Isotopic analyses of 40 Martian meteorites indicate that assimilation of sulphur into Martian magmas was a common occurrence throughout much of the planet’s history and that the atmospheric imprint of photochemical processing preserved in Martian meteoritic sulphide and sulphate is distinct from that observed in terrestrial analogues.

Mid-latitude interhemispheric hydrologic seesaw over the past 550,000 years ▶

Kyoung-nam Jo, Kyung Sik Woo, Sangheon Yi et al.

Tropical and subtropical speleothems show that the latitudinal migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone tends to produce increased precipitation in one hemisphere and drying in the other; now it is shown using speleothems from the Korean peninsula that this phenomenon extended to the mid-latitudes during the past 550,000 years.

News & Views

Climate science: Sea levels from ancient seashells ▶

Ralph Schneider

Research Highlights

Civil engineering: Seismic 'shield' stops quake shake

NEWS & COMMENT

Policy: Bring sustainable energy to the developing world | Geology: Parsing eruptions | IPCC report under fire | Power from the oceans: Blue energy

More Earth & Environmental Sciences ▶

Obesity ▶

Tony Scully

Public health: Society at large ▶

The increasing prevalence of obesity is a worldwide phenomenon, affecting peoples from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds. By Tony Scully.

Cell physiology: The changing colour of fat ▶

The different functions of white, brown and beige fat might yield new targets in the fight against obesity and metabolic disease.

Treatment: Marginal gains ▶

Behavioural interventions work, but not for everyone, and weight regain is common. Are there better ways to treat obesity?

Perspective: Obesity is not a disease ▶

The misguided urge to pathologize this condition reflects society's failure to come to terms with the need for prevention, says D. L. Katz.

Heritability: The family roots of obesity ▶

Scores of genes are implicated in obesity, but they cannot account for a family's predisposition to obesity. Are there other ways parents can influence their children?

Microbiome: A complicated relationship status ▶

Nothing is simple about the links between the bacteria living in our guts and obesity.

Neuroscience: Dissecting appetite ▶

A slew of new technologies are helping to map the neural circuits that control when, and how much, we eat.

Perspective: Tricks of the trade ▶

Processed foods that dilute protein content subvert our appetite control systems, say Stephen J. Simpson and David Raubenheimer.

Sponsor

Tactical tenure manoeuvres ▶

The tenure process is stressful, but there are ways to prepare for it. And one denial need not curtail a life in academia.

Turning point: Joel Elmquist ▶

Making time for protégés is the key to great guidance, says award-winning mentor.

Careers related news & comment

Practical nonsense | Seven days: 11–17 April 2014 | Publishing: Credit where credit is due Liz Allen, Jo Scott, Amy Brand et al.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Theoretical Material Physics - Thermoelectric Materials

University of Oslo 

PhD Project - Bio-inspired Materials Synthesis

Heidelberg University, Centre for Organismal Studies (COS) 

An Engineer for thin film nano-materials (m / f)

Centre de Recherche Public - Gabriel Lippmann 

Binary Polyoxometalates / Magnetic NanoCrystals materials

Pierre et Marie Curie University- Paris VI, Paris, France 

Mind Brain Prize 2014

19.11.14 Torino, Italy