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High yield and wide adaptation rice are crucial for grain supply and food security. Here the authors report OsPI4Kγ7 which contributes to different “adaptability-yield” trade-offs in japonica and indica, and provides an alternative breeding strategy for raising grain yield in different latitudes.

Natural variation in the promoter of OsTPS8 contributes to differences in grain chalkiness and seed vigor between indica and japonica rice subspecies by altering trehalose-6-phosphate biosynthesis and α-amylase levels.

Rhombohedral-stacked structures formed by 2D semiconductors are characterized by emerging physical properties, but their bottom-up growth remains challenging. Here, the authors report a chemical vapour deposition method to grow cm-scale rhombohedral-stacked WS₂/MoS₂ crystals with ferroelectric properties.

The molecular heterogeneity of brain metastases (BrMs) poses challenges for their treatment. Here, the authors generate a multi-omic, single cell, and spatially resolved atlas of 1,032 pan-cancer BrMs and identify four molecular subtypes with distinct biological and clinical features.

Polarons play a crucial role in determining the (photo)electrocatalytic activity of semiconductors. Here, the authors report a reversible, potential-driven method to generate Ti³⁺ polarons on TiO₂, creating dynamic active sites that break the adsorption-potential linearity and boost hydrogen evolution.

Leveraging electron-phonon coupling allows for modulating self-trapped exciton formation for broadband white-light emission. Using transient spectroscopy and DFT calculations, Zhang et al. correlate the structural distortion with self-trapped exciton formation in 2D halide perovskites.

The synthesis of high molecular weight poly(disulfide)s typically requires harsh conditions or the complex cyclic disulfide monomers. Here, the authors report a mild, room-temperature multicomponent polymerisation using elemental sulfur to yield high molecular weight poly(ester disulfide)s

Septin cages entrap cytosolic pathogens to restrict infection. Here, authors show that Shigella effectors OspCs catalyze ADP-riboxanation of SEPT9 at a critical interface, destabilizing septin octamers to inhibit cage assembly and evade host cell-autonomous immunity.

New methods for targeted covalent protein modification at low reactivity aspartates and glutamates are of high interest. Here, the authors report a technique inspired by the HaloTag technology, which employs a covalent conjugation reaction between ligands with a reactive chloroalkane linker and a specific aspartic acid, and use it to covalently modify lipoprotein chaperone PDEδ at a binding site glutamic acid.

B7H3 is an immune checkpoint overexpressed in many cancers and associated with tumor immune evasion. Here, the authors discover that in colorectal cancer, particularly microsatellite-stable tumors, palmitic acid promotes ZDHHC24- mediated B7H3 palmitoylation, regulating CD8⁺ T cell antitumor activity.

Purinergic signalling dysregulation can drive inflammatory disorders, but effective targeted therapy is still lacking. Here, authors develop a smart DNA origami nanodevice that can precisely sense and metabolize high levels of extracellular ATP, thereby fine-tuning purinergic signalling and immune homeostasis.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) shows immunotherapy resistance and has limited treatment options. Here the authors show that arachidonic acid, a ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid, can induce pyroptosis and enhace anti-PD-1 therapy in an immunocompetent PDAC model.

In patients with hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC), resistance to the standard-of-care induction chemotherapy often occurs. Here, using longitudinal single-cell transcriptomic profiling of HPSCC samples from patients receiving induction chemotherapy, the authors identify a ZNF683-high natural killer (NK) cell population as a predictor of chemotherapy response.

The performance of π-conjugated polymers films is limited by the short exciton diffusion lengths due to local imperfections or variations in interchain packing. Here, the authors report on large-area submillimeter-scale spherulites achieved by treating a spin-coated polydiarylfluorene film under solvent vapor annealing.

To address the challenge of response delays in gas sensors, this study proposes a hydroelectrochemical sensing strategy whereby droplets capture gas molecules and induce instantaneous interfacial electron transfer, enabling rapid detection.

Zhang et al. report a foundry-compatible γ-ray treatment to induce chemical bond changes of organic contaminants in carbon nanotube transistors, mitigating the imperfections at the carbon nanotube/dielectric interface, reducing the off-state current density to 112.2 pA μm-1, and achieving radiation tolerance up to 100 Mrad(Si).

Zhang et al. report a strategy of using short chain ligands to simultaneously manipulate the charge transfer dynamics and stabilize the lead bromide octahedra of quasi-2D pure-bromide perovskites, enabling pure-blue LEDs with efficiency of 16.3% and extending the operational lifetime up to 393 mins.

O-GlcNAc chromatin modifications dynamically reshape the transcriptional program of oncogene-induced senescence, forming complexes that activate SASP genes and repress cell-cycle genes; JUN and GATAD2A are identified as key regulators.

Papaya is a trioecious species with XX females, XY males, and XY^h hermaphrodites, and the combination of Y and Y^h chromosomes is lethal. Here, the authors identify the degeneration of the YY lethality gene on the Y chromosome as the causal balancing lethal factor that reenforces dioecy and stabilizes balanced sex ratios.

Conceptual engineering design is challenged by its inherent complexity, dynamics, and creativity demands. Here, the authors integrate large language models with established design methodologies in a multiagent framework for early-stage conceptual design.

Bacteria can infect tumour cells which may affect the biological characteristics of the tumour or even the therapeutic outcome. Here authors show that Stenotrophomonas, upon entering tumour cells, trigger endoplasmic reticulum stress, leading to STING degradation and inhibition of MHC-II⁺ macrophages, which ultimately cause tumour progression and immunotherapy resistance.

Sclerostin impairs whole-body lipidandglucosemetabolism. Here, the authors further demonstrate that adipocytic sclerostin loop3-LRP4 interactionparticipatesin the impairment effect of sclerostin on whole-body lipid and glucose metabolism.

Lipid Nanoparticles (LNPs) effectively deliver mRNA to cells but suffer have low levels of endosomal release. Here the authors report on core-shell LNPs with ionizable lipid–coated gold nanoparticle cores with enhanced pH-responsive membrane disruption, endosomal escape, and cytosolic mRNA delivery improving therapeutic efficiency.

The authors introduce a non-invasive, ultrafast imaging method that combines femtosecond transient absorption microscopy with a WSe₂ exciton sensor to visualize multilevel exciton transport driven by correlated electronic states in twisted WS₂ moiré superlattices.

2D transition metal nitrides (TMNs) exhibit various interesting physical properties, such as tunable magnetism, but their synthesis remains challenging. Here, the authors report the growth of 15 different types of 2D TMN crystals with tunable magnetic properties by using metastable metal chlorides as transient templates.

This study presents an HDB (horizontal diagonal band) – mPFC (medial prefrontal cortex) – thalamus circuit and the cholinergic signaling in mPFC Foxp2⁺ neurons in modulating sensory and affective pain in male mice.

How the vascular endothelial cells support the functional adaptation of pancreatic islets under obesity-associated metabolic stress is poorly understood. Here, the authors show that the ER stress sensor IRE1α employs its RNase activity to play an important regulatory role in this process.

Schizophrenia risk at 1p36.23 lacked functional insight. Here, the authors identify two enhancer variants that upregulate RERE, which disrupts neurogenesis and synaptic function by regulating Grin2a, linking genetic risk to neuronal development and excitatory signaling.

The integration of high-κ dielectrics with low equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) is crucial for the development of 2D transistors. Here, the authors report the low-temperature fabrication of wafer-scale HfO₂ dielectric films with sub-5-Å EOT and their application for the realization of high-performance 2D MoS₂ transistors and circuits.

Distributed multiparameter quantum metrology allows to probe multiple spatially distributed parameters across networked quantum systems. Here, the authors demonstrate distributed multiparameter quantum metrology in a modular superconducting quantum processor network.

BUC-95’s unique stretchable structure overcomes the inherent electron transfer limitations from Fe sites to peroxydisulfate and achieves the formation of Fe(IV) = O species, enhancing the ofloxacin degradation performance.

In the phase III NAPOLI-3 trial, first-line treatment with NALIRIFOX was associated with improved overall survival compared to gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel in patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Here the authors report the results of a randomized phase II trial comparing the two regimens, NALIRIFOX versus Gemcitabine plus Nab-Paclitaxel, in Chinese patients.

The study evaluates China’s offshore wind potential using farm-scale modeling, revealing lower potential than previous estimates. It incorporates realistic turbine layouts, wake loss modeling, and climate scenarios, highlighting economic and technical differences between nearshore and deep-water wind farms.

Genome evolutionary history of wild Arachis species remains unclear. Here, the authors report the origin of small chromosome A08 and genome evolution of Arachis species via comparative oligopainting and genomic analysis of A. hoehnei.

Humanity’s Last Exam, a multi-modal benchmark at the frontier of human knowledge, is designed to be an expert-level closed-ended academic benchmark with broad subject coverage.

Bioresorbable piezoelectric materials are key for bioelectronic–tissue integration but remain challenging to realize. Here, the authors develop flexible Rochelle salt/PLLA nanofibers that enable effective nerve regeneration and wireless monitoring of intestinal motility.

Co-fractionation mass spectrometry reveals protein interactions but is low throughput and data-limited. Here, the authors present ProteoAutoNet, a robotic platform integrated with machine learning that doubles sample processing throughput and predicts thousands of co-eluted protein interactions in thyroid cancer cells, revealing disease-relevant complexes like upregulated proteasome, prefoldin, and a predicted HK1-TGM2 interaction.

Significant amounts of food waste are generated, and although composting is a useful route for such waste, the process is long. Here, the authors report the development of a microwave-assisted method for the rapid humification of waste potato, resulting in a fluvic acid-like fertiliser.

Improving the elongation of stretchable organic electronics typically increases flexibility at the expense of ductility. Here, authors construct a covalent network, reinforced by silica filler, for improving crack-onset strain and modulus, achieving efficiency of 16.5% for stretchable solar cells.

This study shows that excessive atmospheric nitrogen deposition can enhance methane production and emissions by impacting microbial phosphorus acquisition due to the change of N/P ratios in oxygenated surface oceans.

Liu et al. report Chinese normative lifespan brain charts showing later neurodevelopmental milestones than those detected in Western cohorts. Individual deviations from these norms are valuable in assessing clinical risk and outcomes.

Single-crystal alloy thin films (SATFs) are appealing for applications in crystal epitaxy, surface catalysis, and energy conversion. Here, the authors report a method to synthesize wafer-scale binary and ternary SATFs with sub-nanometer roughness, which can be used as substrates for the growth of high-quality graphene single crystals.

Modifying the light-absorbing or catalytic properties of a photocatalyst typically requires tedious preparation, resulting in a lengthy development process. Here, the authors address this limitation by achieving manganese-based low-energy photoredox catalysis through the in-situ assembly of simple Mn salts with inexpensive coordinating chemicals.

The formation of inactive zinc severely limits zinc battery lifespan. Here, authors reveal its origin from a two-stage plating process and report the use of the combination of cationic and anionic reagents to prevent its formation and recover lost capacity, achieving stable zinc batteries.

Intermittent fasting (IF) has been recognized as a potential cancer therapeutic approach but its effect on tumor growth is limited. This study demonstrates that response to IF varies between glioblastoma subtypes, with IF specifically inhibiting Tp53-driven glioblastoma due to a reshaping of the gut microbiota and subsequent altered methionine metabolism suppressing TGF- β signaling.

Alternative splicing greatly expands the transcriptomic and proteomic diversity in vertebrates. Here, the authors develop a machine-learning tool to identify functional splicing events during hematopoietic cell differentiation, revealing new regulators of hematopoiesis.

Behçet’s syndrome is a chronic inflammatory disease with oral ulcers being the most common symptom. Here authors present results from a phase 2 randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial that shows that systemic low dose interleukin-2 could be safely administered to these patients, and the therapy may improve their quality of life.

Untargeted metabolomics faces challenges in metabolite origin inference and metabolite annotation. Here, the authors present TidyMass2, a user-friendly computational framework with metabolite origin inference and feature-based functional module analysis to enhance biological interpretation.

Burns et al. introduce an unrolled, physics-informed machine learning method that speeds up blind structured illumination microscopy by orders of magnitude while preserving generalizability, enabling real-time superresolution imaging in live cells.

In maize, ZmDapF1 suppresses the activity of ZmMDH6 in chloroplasts, exacerbating oxidative damage under drought. Knocking out ZmDapF1 or using its favourable allele with lower gene expression enhances drought resilience without yield penalty.