| | Diabetes: Still a geneticist's nightmare
The largest DNA-sequencing study of type 2 diabetes conducted so far concludes that, contrary to expectation, low-frequency and rare genetic variants do not contribute significantly to disease risk. | Physiology: Pancreatic β-cell heterogeneity revisited
Two analyses of insulin-producing β-cells reveal differences in what has long been considered a homogeneous population. These differences might reflect changes during maturation or ageing, or distinct cell lineages. | Human perception: Amazon music
The people of a tribe called the Tsimane', who have been isolated from Western music, perceive music differently from Western listeners, raising questions about whether musical preference is innate or cultural. | A comprehensive transcriptional map of primate brain development
A high-resolution gene expression atlas of prenatal and postnatal brain development of rhesus monkey charts global transcriptional dynamics in relation to brain maturation, while comparative analysis reveals human-specific gene trajectories; candidate risk genes associated with human neurodevelopmental disorders tend to be co-expressed in disease-specific patterns in the developing monkey neocortex. | The genetic architecture of type 2 diabetes
Sequencing data from two large-scale studies show that most of the genetic variation influencing the risk of type 2 diabetes involves common alleles and is found in regions previously identified by genome-wide association studies, clarifying the genetic architecture of this disease. | Human gut microbes impact host serum metabolome and insulin sensitivity
Increased potential for branched-chain amino acid and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis in the gut microbiome of insulin-resistant individuals suggests that changes in the serum metabolome induced by dysbiosis, and driven by only a handful of species, contribute to the development of diabetes. | Rapid signalling in distinct dopaminergic axons during locomotion and reward
Fast phasic signals in dopaminergic axons in the dorsal striatum occur during, and can induce, motor accelerations in mice, and these signals are transmitted by a largely distinct population of dopaminergic axons from those that signal reward. | Evidence for climate change in the satellite cloud record
Satellite records show that the global pattern of cloud changes between the 1980s and the 2000s are similar to the patterns predicted by models of climate with recent external radiative forcing, and that the primary drivers of the cloud changes appear to be increasing greenhouse gas concentrations and a recovery from volcanic radiative cooling. | Engineering and mapping nanocavity emission via precision placement of DNA origami
The incorporation of large numbers of chemically diverse functional components into microfabricated structures at precise locations is challenging; now the precision placement of DNA origami by directed self-assembly is shown to overcome this problem for the purpose of reliably and controllably coupling molecular emitters to photonic crystal cavities. | Single-layer MoS2 nanopores as nanopower generators
Blue energy is a desirable renewable resource, involving the osmotic transport of ions through a membrane from seawater to fresh water; here, nanopores have been created in two-dimensional molybdenum-disulfide membranes, and shown to generate a substantial osmotic power output. | Ablation-cooled material removal with ultrafast bursts of pulses
Ablation cooling is demonstrated as an effective means of removing material using successive bursts of laser pulses with short intraburst delay times; the technique allows the overall pulse energy to be decreased, overcoming negative thermal effects during the ablation process. | Identification of proliferative and mature β-cells in the islets of Langerhans
Mature pancreatic β-cells can be distinguished from proliferating ones by expression of the Fltp reporter gene, which is triggered by Wnt signalling and β-cell polarization and islet compaction. | Unexpected role of interferon-γ in regulating neuronal connectivity and social behaviour
Adaptive immune dysfunction, in particular interferon-γ, is implicated in disorders characterized by social dysfunction and suggests interferon-γ signalling may provide a co-evolutionary link between social behaviour and an anti-pathogen immune response. | Prefrontal neuronal assemblies temporally control fear behaviour
In the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, expression of conditioned fear is causally related to the organization of neurons into functional assemblies, defining tight temporal control of this behaviour. | Indifference to dissonance in native Amazonians reveals cultural variation in music perception
A native Amazonian society rated consonant and dissonant chords and vocal harmonies as equally pleasant, whereas Bolivian city- and town-dwellers preferred consonance, indicating that preference for consonance over dissonance is not universal and probably develops from exposure to particular types of polyphonic music. | Allosteric nanobodies reveal the dynamic range and diverse mechanisms of G-protein-coupled receptor activation
Stabilization of an active and inactive conformation of the β2-adrenergic receptor by allosteric nanobodies reveals differential ligand-dependent regulation of receptor states to control G-protein-coupled receptor activation. | Glial-cell-derived neuroregulators control type 3 innate lymphoid cells and gut defence
Neurotrophic factors produced by enteric glia in response to microbiota and alarmin cues regulate IL-22 production by group 3 innate lymphoid cells in the gut; disruption of this pathway leads to impaired clearance of Citrobacter rodentium and defects in epithelial integrity in a model of intestinal inflammation. | Mobile genes in the human microbiome are structured from global to individual scales
Mobile genes, which can be transferred between bacterial species in the microbiome to impart properties such as antibiotic resistance, are reflective of human activity and local diets. | | Corrigendum: Enhancer loops appear stable during development and are associated with paused polymerase | | | Brief Communications Arising | | | | | | 
Hey there lab rat! Are you always searching around for the perfect gift for one of those hard working individuals in the lab? Well, I found one for my very own lab rat at the world's largest science-themed estore, labratgifts.com! Use the code 'nature20' to get 20% off your next online order! Restrictions may apply, offer expires 10/31/16. | | | | | | | | Phenological sensitivity to climate across taxa and trophic levels
An ambitious study has used more than 10,000 datasets to examine how the phenological characteristics—such as the timing of reproduction—of various taxa alter in response to climate change, and suggests that differing levels of climate sensitivity could lead to the desynchronization of seasonal events over time.
Stephen J. Thackeray, Peter A. Henrys, Deborah Hemming et al. | Multiple mechanisms disrupt the let-7 microRNA family in neuroblastoma
Disparate modes of suppression of the let-7 microRNA family are selectively and inversely related in neuroblastoma.
John T. Powers, Kaloyan M. Tsanov, Daniel S. Pearson et al. | A novel cereblon modulator recruits GSPT1 to the CRL4CRBN ubiquitin ligase
This paper reports the identification of a new cereblon-modulating agent, CC-885, which targets the translation termination factor GSPT1 and demonstrates anti-tumour activity in patient-derived tumour cells; the crystal structure of the cereblon–DDB1–GSPT1–CC-885 complex reveals a common motif for cereblon-substrate recruitment.
Mary E. Matyskiela, Gang Lu, Takumi Ito et al. | | Molecular logic behind the three-way stochastic choices that expand butterfly colour vision
Butterflies diversify their retinal mosaics by producing three stochastic types of ommatidia instead of the two types found in Drosophila; this study shows that butterfly retinas use two R7-like photoreceptors per ommatidium that each make an independent stochastic decision to express the transcription factor Spineless, which controls photoreceptor and ommatidial fate.
Michael Perry, Michiyo Kinoshita, Giuseppe Saldi et al. | Transport evidence for Fermi-arc-mediated chirality transfer in the Dirac semimetal Cd3As2
Electronic transport measurements in a magnetic field on the topological Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 identify the predicted Weyl orbits that weave Fermi arcs and bulk states together; the Weyl orbits enable transfer of chirality from one node to another, and open up the possibility of controlling topological properties electronically.
Philip J. W. Moll, Nityan L. Nair, Toni Helm et al. | Cloche is a bHLH-PAS transcription factor that drives haemato-vascular specification
The zebrafish cloche gene is required for the formation of most endothelial and haematopoietic cells, however, it has been difficult to isolate; this study reveals that cloche encodes a PAS-domain-containing bHLH transcription factor, and a mammalian orthologue can partially rescue cloche mutants, indicating a possible conserved role in mammals.
Sven Reischauer, Oliver A. Stone, Alethia Villasenor et al. | Ki-67 acts as a biological surfactant to disperse mitotic chromosomes
During cell division, chromosomes are maintained as individual units; this process is shown to be mediated by the cell proliferation marker Ki-67, which has biophysical properties similar to those of surfactants.
Sara Cuylen, Claudia Blaukopf, Antonio Z. Politi et al. | Self-assembly of graphene ribbons by spontaneous self-tearing and peeling from a substrate
The controllable self-assembly of graphene ribbons on a substrate is shown, demonstrating an effect which could be applied to patterning and actuating devices made from two-dimensional materials.
James Annett, Graham L. W. Cross | Dissociated functional significance of decision-related activity in the primate dorsal stream
Activity in regions of the brain have been correlated with decision making but determining whether such relationships are correlative or causative has been challenging; using a technique to reversibly inactivate brain areas in monkeys reveals that although there is decision-related activity in the lateral intraparietal (LIP) area, LIP is not critical for the perceptual decisions studied here.
Leor N. Katz, Jacob L. Yates, Jonathan W. Pillow et al. | Imaging the water snow-line during a protostellar outburst
The snow-line is the distance from a protostar at which a particular volatile gas condenses; images of the protostar V883 Ori suggest that the water snow-line migrated outwards during a protostellar outburst, with implications for our understanding of the formation of planetary systems such as our own.
Lucas A. Cieza, Simon Casassus, John Tobin et al. | A sensitive electrometer based on a Rydberg atom in a Schrödinger-cat state
A highly sensitive electrometer is reported that is based on a Schrödinger-cat state in a Rydberg atom, that reaches a sensitivity beyond the standard quantum limit and can compete with state-of-the-art electric field measurements performed using electromechanical resonators and single-electron transistors.
Adrien Facon, Eva-Katharina Dietsche, Dorian Grosso et al. | Mid-ocean-ridge seismicity reveals extreme types of ocean lithosphere
The structure and accretion modes of two end-member types of oceanic lithosphere are described using a detailed seismicity survey along 390 kilometres of an ultraslow ridge axis, indicating deeper seismicity in amagmatic regions and explaining the uneven crustal production at ultraslow-spreading ridges.
Vera Schlindwein, Florian Schmid | Resolving early mesoderm diversification through single-cell expression profiling
Analysis of the transcriptome of more than 1,200 cells from gastrulating mouse embryos using single-cell sequencing, gathering unexpected insights into early mesoderm formation during gastrulation.
Antonio Scialdone, Yosuke Tanaka, Wajid Jawaid et al. | Early myeloid lineage choice is not initiated by random PU.1 to GATA1 protein ratios
Live imaging and single-cell analyses are used to show that decision-making by differentiating haematopoietic stem cells between the megakaryocytic–erythroid and granulocytic–monocytic lineages is not initiated by stochastic switching between the lineage-specific transcription factors PU.1 and GATA1, which challenges the previous model of early myeloid lineage choice.
Philipp S. Hoppe, Michael Schwarzfischer, Dirk Loeffler et al. | TTC39B deficiency stabilizes LXR reducing both atherosclerosis and steatohepatitis
In mice, deficiency in the high-density lipoprotein gene T39 stabilizes liver X receptor (LXR), reducing both atherosclerosis and steatohepatitis, suggesting that T39 inhibition could be an effective strategy for reducing these diseases.
Joanne Hsieh, Masahiro Koseki, Matthew M. Molusky et al. | | | | |
