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The authors discover a homeostatic process termed interstasis, in which an increased concentration of proteins within RNA–protein condensates induces the sequestration of their own mRNAs.

Many pathogens encode transporters that extract heme directly from host proteins. In this study, the authors demonstrate the utility of de novo-designed proteins in understanding the mechanism behind this process and how it can be inhibited in pathogenic E. coli.

Cottam et al. identify distinct pathways for D-ribulose utilisation in pathogenic Escherichia coli and Citrobacter rodentium, providing mechanistic details and suggesting convergent evolution towards utilisation of this nutrient in nature.

Many low- and middle-income countries, including The Gambia, had low COVID-19 vaccination coverage during the emergence of the Delta and Omicron variants. Here, the authors perform a prospective household cohort study in the Gambia to investigate the dynamics of SARS-Cov-2 infection in this setting.

Here, Isaacs, Nieto and Zhang et al. discover a potent nanobody and engineer a dual-action antibody that targets two viral proteins, offering strong protection against Nipah and Hendra viruses while preventing viral escape, potentially contributing to future treatments.

MORC2, a chromatin remodeler involved in epigenetic silencing and DNA repair, is linked to cancer and neurological disorders when dysregulated. Here, the authors show that MORC2 binds DNA at multiple sites, clamps onto it, and induces compaction, a process regulated by its phosphorylation.

Riebesell et al. introduce Matbench Discovery, a framework to compare machine learning models used to identify stable crystals. Out of several architectures, they find that universal interatomic potentials perform best in the competition.

Flagellotropic phages spin down flagella to reach the bacterial surface and must withstand remarkable drag forces. Here authors show how two nested sets of chainmail stabilise the viral head and a beta-hairpin regulates the formation of the robust yet pliable tail, characteristic of siphoviruses.

An analysis of data from 522 population-based studies encompassing 82 global regions and spanning more than a century (1920–2024) shows spatiotemporal transitions across epidemiologic stages 1 to 3 of inflammatory bowel disease, and models stage 4 progression.

Insights into the interactions between pro- and anti-vaccination clusters on Facebook can enable policies and approaches that attempt to interrupt the shift to anti-vaccination views and persuade undecided individuals to adopt a pro-vaccination stance.

Here, Cottam et al. identify an L-arabinose transporter in Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli and show that metabolism of this dietary sugar upregulates the type 3 secretion system, thus enhancing its fitness within the host gut.

Here, Kropp et al. use cryo-electron microscopy and structural modeling to show that the enzyme [MoCu]-CO dehydrogenase interacts with its partner, the membrane-bound quinone-binding protein CoxG, to facilitate electron transfer from atmospheric CO oxidation to the respiratory chain. This interaction is conserved across diverse bacteria and archaea.

Man was well established in Greater Australia between 25,000 and 30,000 years ago and by at least 20,000 BP was occupying almost all of the principal ecological zones of the continent.

Significant amounts of different perchlorate salts have been discovered on the surface of Mars. Here, the authors show that magnesium perchlorate has a major impact on water structure in solution, providing insight into how an aqueous fluid might exist under the sub-freezing conditions present on Mars.

Structural and biochemical studies of the Mycobacterium smegmatis hydrogenase Huc provides insights into how [NiFe] hydrogenases oxidize trace amounts of atmospheric hydrogen and transfer the electrons liberated via quinone transport.

Although the practice of doing physics has a long history, the term ‘physicist’ is less than 200 years old. Historian Iwan Rhys Morus traces the roots of the word and discusses its slow acceptance by the community it came to describe.

The 3CL protease of SARS-CoV-2 is inhibited by PF-00835231 in vitro. Here, the authors show that the prodrug PF-07304814 has broad spectrum activity, inhibiting SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 in mice and its ADME and safety profile support clinical development.

The Middle Palaeolithic of southwest Asia witnessed interactions and knowledge sharing between archaic and modern humans ~130,000–80,000 years ago. These interactions led to increased behavioural complexity and consolidation of a uniform behavioural set across Homo groups in the region.

An analysis of 24,202 critical cases of COVID-19 identifies potentially druggable targets in inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

By engaging a group of 27 certified radiologists in the United States and India, the accuracy and quality of radiology reports generated by a vision–language model is evaluated, exploring synergistic combinations with clinicians.

SARS-CoV-2 genome sequencing data can be used to infer epidemiological parameters, but the impact of the strategy used to select samples on these estimates is rarely considered. Here, the authors produce estimates using different sampling strategies and compare results to those based on case reporting data.

Transancestral GWAS meta-analysis in 160,420 individuals identifies 139 loci associated with refractive error, including myopia. Newly identified genes implicate pathways involved in eye growth and light signaling cascades.

During differentiation, chromosome conformation is remodelled to support lineage-specific transcriptional programs. Here, the authors characterise chromosome conformational changes in B lymphocytes as they differentiate into plasma cells, and provide evidence that chromosome reconfiguration occurs prior to DNA replication and mitosis and guides gene expression that controls differentiation.

Vaccination is effective in protecting from COVID-19. Here the authors report immune responses and breakthrough infections in twice-vaccinated patients receiving anti-TNF treatments for inflammatory bowel disease, and find dampened vaccine responses that implicate the need of adapted vaccination schedules for these patients.

Selvakumar, Clayton et al. use a porcine model of myocardial infarction and PSC-CM transplantation and identify atrial and pacemaker-like cardiomyocytes as the cause of engraftment arrhythmias and surface marker signatures to distinguish between arrhythmogenic and non-arrhythmogenic cardiomyocytes.

Transcriptome mining, phylogenetic analysis, bioimaging and serology experiments reveal a widespread diverse virome present in ~70% of parasitic nematodes, such as Brugia malayi and Onchocerca volvulus, where some viruses are abundant in the reproductive tract and are associated with seropositivity in vertebrate hosts.

Salt levels in culture affect the polarisation of Th17 cells, which normally protect the host from fungal and bacterial infections. Here, the authors study patients with salt-losing tubulopathies (SLT) to find that, while Th17 immunity is dampened in SLT patients, their Th17-inducing signaling pathways are intact and can be reinvigorated by exogenous salt.

A national prospective study of patients requiring hospitalization for COVID-19 demonstrates global cognitive deficits at 1 year, associated with elevated brain injury markers and reduced gray matter volume.

In this study, Aggarwal and colleagues perform prospective sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 isolates derived from asymptomatic student screening and symptomatic testing of students and staff at the University of Cambridge. They identify important factors that contributed to within university transmission and onward spread into the wider community.

Escherichia coli ST131 is a globally dominant multidrug resistant clone associated with high rates of recurring urinary tract infections. In this genomic epidemiology study, the authors describe the evolution, population structure, and antimicrobial resistance in 142 E. coli ST131 samples from Wales, UK.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that kill bacteria, with potential as antibacterial agents in industrial settings, agriculture, and human health. Here, we identified two phages, PIN1 and PIN2, that can kill clinical isolates of the human pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae. The phages are highly stable; PIN2 in particular resisted multiple freeze-thaw cycles over 12 months without loss of activity. PIN1 and PIN2 are related to flagellotropic phages, an idiosyncratic group of viruses that bind to bacterial flagellae, but K. pneumoniae is an immotile pathogen that does not have flagellae. Genetic mosaicism is observed, wherein the long, flexible tail fiber of the flagellotropic phages has been substituted by a more compact tail fiber that binds the Klebsiella host through cell-surface capsular polysaccharide and lipopolysaccharide. PIN1 and PIN2 belong to the Yonseivirus group of phages, with initial analyses across the group suggesting further recent diversification in the tail-fiber cassette in the Yonseivirus genomes.

Diverse bacteria can use the low levels of hydrogen and carbon monoxide present in the air as energy sources for growth and survival. Here, Leung et al. show that ability is also found in thermophilic archaea of the order Sulfolobales.

Anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) are globally distributed methane consumers for which pure cultures are lacking. Here the authors use multi-omics and FISH on a bioreactor enrichment to reveal metabolically and morphologically distinct life stages in a single ANME lineage.

Here the authors describe a simple reverse genetics method that relies on overlapping cDNA fragments for generation of positive-strand viruses including SARS-CoV-2 and characterize them in vitro and in vivo.

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and B. salamandrivoransare both important pathogens of amphibians, but they differ in their host ranges, infection strategies, and host immune responses. Here, Farrer and colleagues compare their genomes and transcriptomes to identify the genetic basis of these differences.

The transcription factor Pax5 enforces B cell identity. Nutt, Allan and colleagues show that Pax5 is needed to establish and maintain the three-dimensional genome organization of B cells throughout their lineage development.