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By manipulating the rhythmicity of neural activity in entorhinal cortex and hippocampus, Quirk et al. show that memory is impaired by aberrant oscillatory activity during the encoding phase, but not during retention or retrieval phases.

Structural and mechanistic data of the ADP-ribosyltransferase DarT demonstrate the role of ADP-ribosylation of DNA by this enzyme in generating toxicity and regulating cellular signalling processes in bacteria.

Human–chimpanzee tetraploid fusions serve as a model to study gene expression differences between these species, allowing for separation of cis- from trans-regulatory effects and analysis of unique craniofacial morphologies.

Elucidation of the bacterial ceramide biosynthetic pathway reveals that it likely evolved independently from the eukaryotic pathway, as bacteria lack homologs for many of the eukaryotic enzymes and the reactions occur in a different order.

Longitudinal skin site sampling of residents in a skilled nursing facility sheds light on persistent niches of the emerging fungal pathogen Candida auris.

Genome-scale CRISPR–Cas9-based synthetic lethality screens identify PKMYT1 as a potential therapeutic target in tumours with CCNE1 amplification.

Herle et al. provide evidence that common genetic variants associated with BMI are also associated with eating behaviour trajectories in childhood, supporting the behavioural susceptibility theory of obesity.

De novo design of self-assembling protein nanostructures and materials is of significant interest, however design of complex, multi-component assemblies is challenging. Here, the authors present a stepwise hierarchical approach to build such assemblies using helical repeat and helical bundle proteins as building blocks, and provide an in-depth structural characterization of the resulting assemblies.

Amrolia and colleagues characterize the clonal origins of long-term persistent CAR T cells from the CARPALL trial using low-affinity CAR T cells mediating long-term anti-leukemic control in patients through T_SCM-mediated responses.

Newly emerged pathogens are inherently difficult to forecast, due to many unknowns about their biology early in an epidemic. Here, the authors assess forecasts of a suite of models during the Zika epidemic in Colombia, finding that the models that performed best changed over the course of the epidemic.

A surprising resistance would be put up by sand grains hiding a buried treasure chest.

The intrinsically disordered acidic activation domain (AD) of the yeast transcription factor Gal4 acts through binding to the Med15 subunit of the Mediator complex. Here, the authors show that Gal4 interacts with Med15 through an identical fuzzy binding mechanism as Gcn4 AD, which has a different sequence, revealing a common sequence-independent mechanism for AD-Mediator binding. In contrast, Gal4 AD binds to the Gal80 repressor as a structured polypeptide, which strongly suggests that the structured binding partner dictates the type of protein–protein interaction for an intrinsically disordered protein.

Small molecules stabilising a distorted TNF trimer can inhibit TNF signaling, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. Here, the authors characterize the inhibitor-bound TNF-receptor complex structurally and biochemically, showing that the inhibitors alter TNF-receptor binding stoichiometry and cluster formation.

Production of aromatic monoterpene molecules in hop flowers is affected by genetic, environmental, and processing factors. Here, the authors engineer brewer’s yeast for the production of linalool and geraniol, and show pilot-scale beer produced by engineered strains reconstitutes some qualities of hop flavor.

Omicron replicates faster than the wild-type, D614G, Alpha, Beta and Delta SARS-CoV-2 variants in the bronchi but less efficiently in the lung parenchyma.

Induction of CD4 T follicular helper (Tfh) cells is important for antibody responses to viral infections. Here, the authors show in a rhesus macaque model of mild COVID-19 that SARS-CoV-2 infection results in transient accumulation of proliferating Tfh cells with a Th1 profile in peripheral blood and generation of germinal center Tfh cells specific for viral proteins.

A typology of four perspectives on loss and damage is developed based on the study of actor perspectives, including interviews with stakeholders in research, practice, and policy. This may help with navigation of this necessarily ambiguous territory.

An archetype of collaboration, community development and vision, who made fundamental contributions to biology through his studies on the often-unseen part of the plant, the root.

In an age of expensive experiments and hype around new data-driven methods, researchers understandably want to ensure they are gleaning as much insight from their data as possible. Rachel C. Kurchin argues that there is still plenty to be learned from older approaches without turning to black boxes.

Single cell genome sequencing approaches have identified somatic copy number variants (CNVs) in human neurons, but small sample sizes (<100 neurons) have limited the power to find recurrent patterns such as CNV hotspots in a single individual. Here, the authors develop an approach to map CNVs in 2097 neurons from a neurotypical individual, finding that >10% neurons contain at least one somatic CNV, and enabling deeper investigation of these events.

An evolutionary trade-off of unprecedented genetic complexity in the glucose/galactose utilization regulatory pathway across several long-diverged species of Saccharomyces.

Mathematical modelling of 15 years of data from South Africa reveals the spread and vaccine-driven changes in fitness and antimicrobial resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

The study is the first to show that low iron levels can affect fetal sexual development.

The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt is a hazard for coastal communities. Elevated N and P in the GASB are measured, with As content reflecting P limitation. Nutrient availability causes GASB blooms but reducing P would increase As accumulation.

Dietary restriction promotes healthy brain aging, but the mechanism is unknown. Here, the authors show that OXR1 is upregulated by dietary restriction and confers age-related neuroprotection by maintaining retromer-mediated protein and lipid trafficking.

Deep, high-resolution polarization observations of HL Tau at 870  µm show gaps that have polarization angles with a notable azimuthal component and a higher polarization fraction than the rings.

Here, Lou et al. apply metagenomics and microbiome cultivation to infant fecal samples and uncover co-existing members encoding extracellular fucosidases that initiate 2’-fucosyllactose (2’FL) breakdown and can promote extensive growth of Bifidobacterium breve.

The overexpression of β-catenin and the transcription factor Gata4 in skin fibroblasts induces these cells to secrete reparative exosomes, as shown in mice models of myocardial infarction and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Observationally, lower birthweight is a risk factor for cardiometabolic disease. Using Mendelian Randomization, the authors investigate whether maternal genetic factors that lower offspring birthweight also increase offspring cardiometabolic risk and show that the observational correlation is unlikely to be due to the intrauterine environment.

Amasino et al. show that when humans decide between earlier or later monetary pay-outs of smaller or larger amounts, patient choices result from processing the information about amount and time successively, focussing first on amounts to be gained.

Colorectal tumors with mutated KRAS and APC require the amino acid transporter SLC7A5 to drive tumorigenesis. Mechanistically, SLC7A5 drives transcriptional and metabolic reprogramming by maintaining intracellular amino acid levels, leading to enhanced protein synthesis.

The Legionella pneumophila effector MavC inhibits the human ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme Ube2N. Here, the authors combine NMR, X-ray crystallography and biochemical assays and show that MavC catalyses the intramolecular transglutaminase reaction between the Ube2N and Ub subunits of the Ube2N∼Ub conjugate and present the substrate- and product-bound MavC crystal structures.

The PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway has been previously implicated in fibrosis and a pan-PI3K/mTOR inhibitor is currently under clinical evaluation for the treatment of IPF. Here the authors show that the mTORC1/4E-BP1 axis is critical for TGF-β1-induced fibrogenesis in in vitro and ex vivo models and that canonical PI3K/Akt signalling is dispensable.

Combining a large-scale manipulative field experiment with long-term genetic assays and modelling, the authors document evidence of ecological–evolutionary feedbacks between aphids and parasitoids through resistance conferred by heritable bacterial symbionts.

Anagnostou et al. present an improved predictor of response to immune checkpoint blockade that integrates estimates of tumor mutational burden corrected for tumor purity, RTK genomic alterations, a smoking-related mutational signature and HLA status.

Late childhood is an important period for the development of inhibitory control underlying self-regulation and impulse control behavior. Here, the authors identify brain mechanisms and functional cortical-basal ganglia circuits that predict inhibitory control in children.

A meta-analysis of 126 published studies shows that exposure to artificial light at night induces strong responses for physiological measures, daily activity patterns and life history traits.

Ribbon synapses in our sensory nervous system are central to hearing and sight, yet little is known about how these synapses are assembled and maintained during development. In this study, authors use live imaging techniques to monitor ribbon appearance, loss and maintenance in a retinal circuit during development to show that nascent synapses comprising of both ribbons and PSD95 are more stable over time compared to contacts without ribbons.

Yeast exhibit oscillations that share features with circadian rhythms. The authors show that bioenergetic constraints promote oscillatory behaviour: resources are stored until supplies can support translational bursting, this is licensed by ion transport and release from membrane-less compartments.

In vivo reprogramming of reactive glia using transfection of a single transcription factor has been described before by these authors and applied to models of neurodegeneration. Here the authors use this procedure in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington’s disease, targeting astrocytes in the striatum, converting them to GABAergic neurons.

A NutNet global grassland study finds that leaf N, P and K consistently respond to soil nutrient additions, but leaf morphological traits, such as specific leaf area, are inconsistent indicators of anthropogenic perturbations.

Bacteria and archaea use cyclic oligoadenylate molecules as part of the CRISPR system for antiviral defence; here, a family of viral enzymes that rapidly degrades cyclic oligoadenylates is identified and biochemically and structurally described.

Studying the unfolding of membrane proteins in a native-like lipid environment is challenging. Here the authors describe a method combining hydrogen-deuterium exchange and solid-state NMR measurements that allows the characterization of unfolding events in lipid-embedded membrane proteins and use the photoreceptor Anabaena Sensory Rhodopsin as a test case.