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A protein biomarker, the NOTCH3 extracellular domain, identifies individuals with idiopathic pulmonary hypertension, correlates with disease progression, improves mortality risk prediction and provides a readily implementable, noninvasive blood test for this disease.

Analysing the causal links of gene expression and protein abundance on type 2 diabetes risk in blood and seven tissues related to the disease from individuals of four ancestries, the authors advance our understanding of the genetic architecture of type 2 diabetes

Radiation reaction (RR) on particles in strong fields is the subject of intense experimental research, but previous efforts lacked statistical significance due to the extreme regimes required. Here, the authors report a 5σ observation of RR and obtain strong, quantitative evidence favouring quantum models over classical, using an all-optical setup where electrons are accelerated by a laser in a gas jet before colliding with a second, intense pulse.

The fungal genus Armillaria includes virulent necrotrophic pathogens, unusual wood decayers and the largest terrestrial organisms on Earth. Sahu et al. suggest that horizontal gene transfer contributed to the evolution of some of these unique traits.

Unlike Amazonian forests, African forests have maintained their carbon sink until recently but by 2030 the African carbon sink will have shrunk by 14 per cent and the Amazonian sink will reach almost zero.

Radiolabel-based bioassays, nanoSIMs, metagenomics and lipidomics conducted on samples collected along the East Pacific Rise show higher than expected chemosynthetic microbial activity on inactive vents.

Genomic analyses applied to 14 childhood- and adult-onset psychiatric disorders identifies five underlying genomic factors that explain the majority of the genetic variance of the individual disorders.

The acidophilic fungus Acrodontium crateriforme is present in traps of the carnivorous plant Drosera spatulata and promotes prey digestion.

A large genome-wide association study of more than 5 million individuals reveals that 12,111 single-nucleotide polymorphisms account for nearly all the heritability of height attributable to common genetic variants.

Here the authors provide an explanation for 95% of examined predicted loss of function variants found in disease-associated haploinsufficient genes in the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD), underscoring the power of the presented analysis to minimize false assignments of disease risk.

Marine cloud reflectivity declined by 2.8%/decade (2003-2022) over the NE Pacific and North Atlantic, enhancing shortwave absorption beyond climate model projections. Here, the authors use an improved aerosol-climate model and show that aerosol reductions may account for 69% of the cloud reflectivity decline.

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.

Capacity for carbon capture and storage in forests may not be monolithic but instead a function of complex dynamics of forest strata and age. The smaller trees that make up the understory in African tropical forests store their carbon longer as compared to sub-canopy and canopy trees and they represent a disproportionately large share of the carbon sink, in spite of their small size.

Polygenic scores for body mass index and obesity constructed using data from 5 million people with different ancestries were associated with distinct weight gain trajectories from early childhood to adulthood.

Inventory data from more than 1 million trees across African, Amazonian and Southeast Asian tropical forests suggests that, despite their high diversity, just 1,053 species, representing a consistent ~2.2% of tropical tree species in each region, constitute half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees.

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).

Blood vessel integrity is critical to maintain brain health. Here, the authors show that both the liver and the muscles secrete HFE2, a protein that promotes blood vessel integrity in healthy animals and in an animal model for multiple sclerosis.

Using well-calibrated statistical methods the authors jointly analyze Undiagnosed Diseases Network genomes, identifying known and novel disease genes. Software is publicly available to support future cross-cohort rare disease discovery efforts.

Fungi of the genus Armillaria include devastating forest pathogens that cause root rot disease in many plants. Sequencing genomes and transcriptomes of several species, the authors reveal the genetic basis of dispersal, multicellular development and pathogenic mechanisms in Armillaria.

Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension is a rare and fatal disease with a heterogeneous treatment response. Here the authors show that unsupervised machine learning of whole blood transcriptomes from 359 patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension identifies 3 subgroups (endophenotypes) that improve risk stratification and provide new molecular insights.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis study of blood lipid levels in roughly 1.6 million individuals demonstrates the gain of power attained when diverse ancestries are included to improve fine-mapping and polygenic score generation, with gains in locus discovery related to sample size.

By harvesting aquatic vegetation that provides habitat for snails that harbour Schistosoma parasites and converting it to compost and animal feed, a trial reduced schistosomiasis prevalence in children while providing wider economic benefits.

The aboveground carbon stock of a montane African forest network is comparable to that of a lowland African forest network and two-thirds higher than default values for these montane forests.

Methane is an abundant energy source that is used for power generation in thermal power plants via combustion, but direct conversion to electricity in fuel cells remains challenging. Now, a microbial fuel cell is demonstrated to efficiently convert methane directly to current by careful selection of a consortium of microorganisms.

Decoupling emission reduction target determination, air pollution modelling, and health benefit estimation complicates control strategy design. Here an integrated approach identifies strategies to reduce health damages of air pollution, showing that benefits can be achieved cost-effectively by electrifying sources with high primary PM_2.5 emission intensities.

Tan and colleagues conducted a single-cell multiomic analysis of T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and identified a treatment-resistant subpopulation of bone marrow progenitor-like blasts associated with poor outcomes.

Results show meaningful variations in electric vehicle costs and emissions benefits across the United States, differing by vehicle category and charging systems: Direct Current Fast Charging, Battery Swapping, and Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

Comprehensive genomic and transcriptomics analyses of more than 1,300 cases of childhood T-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukaemia identify 15 distinct subtypes that are associated with specific outcomes.

Much remains to be learned about the biology of mushrooms, which are an important source of food as well as secondary metabolites and enzymes of biotechnological importance. Ohm et al. report the sequence of the genetically tractable species Schizophyllum commune and identify genes involved in the formation of fruiting bodies and the degradation of lignocellulose.

The bactericidal action of some antibiotics is associated with increased ATP consumption, cellular respiration, and reactive oxygen species formation. Here, Li et al. show that constitutive hydrolysis of ATP and NADH (or ‘bioenergetic stress’) potentiates the evolution of antibiotic resistance and persistence in E. coli.

Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN) is a rare but life-threatening severe cutaneous drug reaction mediated by CD8⁺ T cells. Here the authors characterise the immune response in skin samples at the site of tissue damage from patients affected with SJS/TEN and compare this to healthy skin or blister fluid and find populations of CD8⁺ T cell clonotypes expressing cytotoxic mediator molecules.

The understanding of defects in bromide-based perovskites remains elusive. Electric biasing and introducing bromide in the precursor solution during crystal growth is shown to significantly reduce defects in formamidinium lead bromide.

Pneumococcal carriage is a useful outcome to evaluate pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) introduction. Here the authors conducted cross-sectional carriage surveys before (2015) and after 13-valent PCV introduction (2017 and 2022) in Mongolia to determine vaccine impact.

Examining drivers of the latitudinal biodiversity gradient in a global database of local tree species richness, the authors show that co-limitation by multiple environmental and anthropogenic factors causes steeper increases in richness with latitude in tropical versus temperate and boreal zones.

This Consensus Statement presents the standards for technical reporting in environmental and host-associated microbiome studies (STREAMS) guidelines.

Sera from vaccinated individuals and some monoclonal antibodies show a modest reduction in neutralizing activity against the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2; but the E484K substitution leads to a considerable loss of neutralizing activity.

Chronic infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to the emergence of viral variants that show reduced susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies in an immunosuppressed individual treated with convalescent plasma.

COVID-19 can be associated with neurological complications. Here the authors show that markers of brain injury, but not immune markers, are elevated in the blood of patients with COVID-19 both early and months after SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly in those with brain dysfunction or neurological diagnoses.

Imaging biological tissues has long been an issue, particularly with regard to manipulation and dissection for SEM. Here, the authors present a simple technique for the stabilization of biological tissues via a synthetic fossilization process, requiring minimal expertise or equipment and involving few steps.

Mangroves provide ecosystem services but are threatened by anthropogenic activities. This study identifies priority areas that maximise the protection of mangrove biodiversity and ecosystem services. The authors show that biodiversity can be protected whilst maximising ecosystem benefits, with little or no increase in the protected area required.

Fear conditioning results from the association that develops between a neutral conditioned stimulus and an aversive unconditioned stimulus (UCS), which is thought to be supported by plasticity in the amygdala. Here, the authors find that information about the UCS is conveyed to the amygdala by neurons in the periaqueductal gray.

The response to infectious and inflammatory challenges differs among people but the reasons for this are poorly understood. Here the authors explore the impact of variables such as age, sex, and the capacity for controlling inflammation and maintaining immunocompetence, linking this capacity to favourable health outcomes and lifespan.

The authors defined a roadmap for investigating the genetic covariance between structural or functional brain phenotypes and risk for psychiatric disorders. Their proof-of-concept study using the largest available common variant data sets for schizophrenia and volumes of several (mainly subcortical) brain structures did not find evidence of genetic overlap.

There has been intense debate as to whether biodiversity increases or reduces the risk of infectious disease. This Review is the result of researchers from both sides of the debate attempting to reach a consensus.