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How landscapes are arranged affects soil pathogenic fungi worldwide. The authors reveal the global pattern and pronounced scale-dependency of landscape complexity and land-cover quantity on soil pathogenic fungal diversity.

Estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study reveal declines in chronic respiratory disease mortality between 1990 and 2023—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—but the burdens on people affected remain substantial.

Soil microorganisms play a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem functioning across diverse environments. This study shows that soil properties and specific microbial taxa jointly shape ecosystem functioning across European soils.

The 2023 monkeypox outbreak was caused by a subclade IIb monkeypox virus (MPXV). Here, using advanced sequencing techniques, the authors identify variations on low-complexity regions of the MPXV genome and describe their potential as evolutionary drivers.

Soil biodiversity is poorly studied compared to aboveground biodiversity, but is an important driver of ecosystem functioning. This Review discusses advances in research into the relationships between soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, highlighting that integrative and causal study approaches will be needed to fill the gaps in our understanding.

A rare case of asymptomatic dominantly inherited Alzheimer’s reveals confined tau pathology and unique proteomic features, highlighting potential resilience mechanisms decades beyond expected onset.

Although long neglected in biodiversity conservation policy, the importance of soil biodiversity is now recognized by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This Perspective describes this important policy breakthrough and offers strategies to build on it for successful monitoring and conservation outcomes.

TDP-43 dysfunction in ALS/FTD causes faulty splicing of the KCNQ2 ion channel, leading to toxic protein buildup, neuron hyperactivity and a potential new biomarker and treatment target using RNA-based therapies.

The relative importance of imported compared to local transmission of malaria in island populations is difficult to quantify. Here, the authors perform a quasi-experimental study to assess how travel restrictions to Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the prevalence of malaria on the island.

Here, the authors present results of the ZiBRA-2 project (https://www.zibra2project.org) which is an arbovirus surveillance project, across the Midwest of Brazil using a mobile genomics laboratory, combined with a genomic surveillance training program that targeted post-graduate students, laboratory technicians, and health practitioners in universities and laboratories.

Plant pathogens threaten food security and ecosystem health. Projections of potential fungal plant pathogens under different warming and land-use scenarios indicate that warming temperatures under climate change will lead to increases in the relative abundance of such pathogens in most soils worldwide.

The effective conservation of soil biodiversity and ecosystem services in the face of global-change threats requires improvements in national monitoring. We outline the Global Soil Biodiversity Observatory, an initiative that aims to develop standardized indicators and enhance national monitoring capacities to support evidence-based policymaking and facilitate global assessments.

Vega-Gutiérrez et al. present cryo-electron microscopy structures of GluA4-containing AMPA receptors, which are key for brain signaling. They show GluA4-specific conformations and explain how subunit composition shapes receptor architecture, dynamics and function.

Soil organism biodiversity contributes to ecosystem function, but biodiversity and function have not been equivalently studied across the globe. Here the authors identify locations, environment types, and taxonomic groups for which there is currently a lack of biodiversity and ecosystem function data in the existing literature.

Human gut bacteria bioaccumulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly known as forever chemicals, in intracellular aggregates. Colonization of gnotobiotic mice with bioaccumulating bacteria increases faecal PFAS excretion.

Multivesicular bodies (MVB) are endosomal compartments that can either fuse with the plasma membrane for the secretion of exosomes, or fuse with the lysosome and be degraded along with their contents. Here, the authors show that ISGylation of the MVB protein TSG101 impairs exosome secretion and acts as a regulator of MVB fate.

Springtails are omnipresent soil arthropods, vital for ecosystems. In the first global assessment of springtails, this study shows a 20-fold biomass difference between the tundra and the tropics, with distinct temperature-related patterns for diversity and metabolism that suggest climate change may restructure the functioning of soil biodiversity.

A diverse, multidisciplinary panel of 386 experts in COVID-19 response from 112 countries provides health and social policy actions to address inadequacies in the pandemic response and help to bring this public health threat to an end.

Fenofibrate has been shown to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication in vitro. Results from a randomized clinical trial show that treating patients with COVID-19 with fenofibrate has no significant effect on clinically relevant outcomes.

Most Amazon tree species are rare but a small proportion are common across the region. The authors show that different species are hyperdominant in different size classes and that hyperdominance is more phylogenetically restricted for larger canopy trees than for smaller understory ones.

A global field survey that analyses samples of soil from all continents identifies hotspots for soil nature conservation, and shows that different ecological dimensions of soil are associated with different priority areas for conservation.

This study supports neurofilament light chain protein (NfL) in both cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood as an early marker of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease but suggests that NfL in CSF may be better suited than blood for monitoring clinical trial outcomes in symptomatic patients.

Excitotoxicity due to excessive glutamate release causes oxidative stress and neuronal death, and is a feature of many brain diseases. Here the authors show that protein kinase D1 is inactivated by excitotoxicity in a model of stroke and that its activation can be neuroprotective.

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) data on non-European and admixed individuals remains scarce. Here, the authors analyse WGS data from 1,171 admixed elderly Brazilians from a census cohort, characterising population-specific genetic variation and exploring the clinical utility of this expanded dataset.

CRISPR-Cas13 RNA-targeting systems comprise an invaluable set of tools in the fields of basic and applied sciences. Here, Moreno-Sánchez, Hernández-Huertas, and Nahón-Cano et al. enhanced the use of the CRISPR-RfxCas13d system in zebrafish for targeted depletion of endogenous mRNAs.

Geographic patterns in plant growth are probably influenced by soil abiotic and biotic conditions. Here, the authors assess the relationship of a composite soil health index to primary productivity and the underlying environmental predictors across major land-use types in Europe.

A genome-wide association study including over 76,000 individuals with schizophrenia and over 243,000 control individuals identifies common variant associations at 287 genomic loci, and further fine-mapping analyses highlight the importance of genes involved in synaptic processes.

An investigation using various methods reports an association between adeno-associated virus 2 and paediatric hepatitis of unknown aetiology.

Proteomic analysis of cerebrospinal fluid from individuals with autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease reveals how this complex and chronic disease evolves over many decades.

Genomic approaches in more than 500 patients are used to extend the number of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) driver alterations, and also identify novel recurrent mutations in non-coding regions, including an enhancer of PAX5 and the 3′ untranslated region of NOTCH1, which lead to aberrant splicing events, increased NOTCH1 protein stability and activity, and an adverse clinical outcome.

Adipose tissue accommodates large volume changes upon expansion, but the molecular mechanisms involved are not fully understood. Here, Aboy et al. describe CAV1 Y14 phosphorylation as required for appropriate adipocyte caveolae flattening and homeostasis.

Mosses support carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, organic matter decomposition and plant pathogen control in soils across the globe, according to a global survey of soil attributes in ecosystems with and without mosses.

Women sprinters are closing the gap on men and may one day overtake them.

Results from the phase 2/3 clinical trial of gantenerumab or solanezumab in dominantly inherited Alzheimer’s disease reveal no beneficial effects on cognitive measures despite a significant reduction in amyloid plaques and other key biomarkers in those treated with gantenerumab.

Soil microbial carbon is central to soil functions and services, but its spatial-temporal dynamics are unclear. Here the authors show global trends in soil microbial carbon, which suggests a global decrease in soil microbial carbon, mostly driven by temperature increases in northern areas.

Accurate estimates of the biodiversity of soil animals are essential for conservation efforts and to understand the animals’ role in carbon cycles. Such information is now available on a global scale for nematode worms.

Using lidar over an area of 85,000 km², Inomata et al. identified 478 early ceremonial complexes in southern Mexico. These discoveries offer new information for understanding the origins of Mayan civilization and its relation with the Olmecs.

Malaria on Bioko Island has been reduced substantially but many acquire malaria while traveling. Here, the authors use survey data, geostatistical and mathematical modeling to investigate malaria prevalence and mobility patterns and find that in some parts of the island a significant fraction of prevalence is attributable to malaria acquired while traveling.

City-level analysis of data from the SALURBAL project shows vast heterogeneity in life expectancy across cities within the same country, in addition to substantive differences in causes of death among nine Latin American countries, revealing modifiable factors that could be leveraged by municipal-level policies aimed toward improving health in urban environments.