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On the oceanic island of Tenerife, dispersal, speciation and persistence drive the diversity and distribution of plant functional traits.

Global climate model simulations of early Venus and Earth show that differences in the cloud regimes prevented ocean formation on Venus but not on Earth.

Aging is associated with declining protein homeostasis. Here, using a chemical mutagenesis screen for lifespan extension in C. elegans, the authors report that inhibition of the integrated stress response enhances longevity and protein homeostasis in a manner dependent on kin-35, without reducing protein synthesis.

Antimony chalcogenides are emerging photovoltaic materials, yet difficulties in fabricating high-quality films limit device performance. We show that hydrothermal synthesis affords good morphology and reduced defects in antimony selenosulfide films, enabling solar cells with an efficiency of 10%.

Targeted mass spectrometry enables reproducible and accurate lipid quantification but dedicated software tools to develop targeted lipidomics assays are lacking. Here, the authors develop a targeted lipidomics workbench and lipid knowledgebase for the streamlined generation of targeted assays.

The efficacy of oncolytic adenoviruses is limited by strong immune responses being induced against the oncolytic virus itself. Here, the authors generate a bispecific molecule capable of redirecting the adenovirus-specific antibodies to tumour cells and show this induces immune mediated cancer growth inhibition and enhances the therapeutic efficacy of viral oncolysis.

An agent-based model of SARS-CoV-2 transmission shows that testing, contact tracing and household quarantine could keep new COVID-19 waves under control while allowing the reopening of the economy with minimal social-distancing interventions.

Transcription noise in bacteria is often attributed to burstiness, but the mechanisms are unclear. Here, the authors show that the transition from low to high expression can be regulated via burst size or burst frequency, depending on the mode of transcription initiation determined by different sigma factors.

Deep learning was used to map the crown sizes of each tree in the West African Sahara, Sahel and sub-humid zone using submetre-resolution satellite imagery, revealing a relatively high density of trees in arid areas.

Oligodendrocytes myelinate and metabolically support axons. The role of myelination in information processing beyond regulation of conduction velocity is unclear. Here, the authors show that myelination contributes to sustained stimulus perception in the auditory cortex, shaping neuronal responses.

In humans, pH varies across the gastrointestinal tract. This Review provides an overview of gastrointestinal pH and its role in shaping the gut microbiota, highlighting major physiological and dietary factors that influence gastrointestinal pH and how in turn pH affects microbiota composition and metabolism in health and, potentially, disease.

M. pneumoniae, a model organism for a minimal cell, has a dedicated protein, namely P116, to specifically extract essential lipids. The structure of P116 has a previously unseen fold, resembling a left-handed baseball glove forming a huge hydrophobic cavity.

Laser-produced plasma can be used for particle acceleration in different schemes. Here the authors demonstrate proton acceleration from the intense ultrashort laser pulse interaction with micron-sized cryogenic hydrogen jet.

Pseudouridine (Ψ), the C-nucleoside isomer of uridine, and its 1-N-methyl derivative, are incorporated in mRNA vaccines and essential for their efficiency, but difficult to synthetically access. Here, the authors report on selective and atom-economic 1N-5C rearrangement of β-d-ribosyl on uracil to obtain Ψ from unprotected U in quantitative yield

A π-electron-deficient cavity in halogen-substituted polyaromatic hydrocarbon compounds, the so-called π-holes, have been predicted theoretically. Here authors present an experimental resolution of the πhole on a single molecule using the Kelvin probe force microscopy.

Myelin is widely believed to protect axons from damage in multiple sclerosis. The authors challenge this view and find that myelin insulation renders axons more vulnerable to degeneration in an autoimmune environment.

Polar microalgae have high zinc demand. Here, the authors use quantitative proteomics and transcriptomics of polar and non-polar model algae combined with cellular physiology to show that zinc plays an important role in supporting photosynthetic growth in eukaryotic polar phytoplankton.

A GWAS of lifetime cannabis use reveals new risk loci, shows that cannabis use has genetic overlap with smoking and alcohol use, and indicates that the likelihood of initiating cannabis use is causally influenced by schizophrenia.

The maintenance of bacterial and fungal activity is essential for ecosystem functioning, particularly in dry soils where the two phyla co-exist. Here, Worrich and colleagues show experimentally that mycelia traffic water and nutrients and thereby stimulate bacterial activity in stressful conditions.

An integrated high-resolution genetic, physical and shotgun sequence assembly of the barley genome, one of the earliest domesticated and most important crops, is described; it will provide a platform for genome-assisted research and future crop improvement.

Three populations of the fish Poecilia mexicanahave independently colonized sulphur-rich springs, providing a unique framework to study extreme adaptation. Here, the authors show that two of the populations evolved a decreased susceptibility of the cytochrome oxidase complex to sulphides.’

HGPS is a premature aging disease caused by mutations in the nuclear protein lamin A. Here, the authors show that cells from patients with HGPS have expanded nucleoli and increased protein synthesis, and report that nucleoli also expand as aging progresses in cells derived from healthy individuals.

Integrating inventory data with machine learning models reveals the global composition of tree types—needle-leaved evergreen individuals dominate, followed by broadleaved evergreen and deciduous trees—and climate change risks.

Ilievski et al. examine differences and similarities in the various ways human and AI systems generalize. The insights are important for effectively supporting alignment in human–AI teams.

In this study, the concept of dynamic character displacement among interacting bacterial species from leaf-colonizing families was empirically tested using a proteomics approach. A phenotypic shift towards the utilization of alternative carbon sources was observed during coexistence, thereby minimizing niche overlap.

Aerobic methanotrophy is a rare trait, yet bacteria with this capacity are key players in the global methane cycle. Here the authors find a methanotrophic Mycobacterium in a cave, indicating that methane utilization is more widespread across bacteria than previously assumed.

There is an urgent need for novel strategies to combat life-threatening fungal infections. Here, Revie et al. identify a compound that induces alterations in fungal membranes, synergizes with azole antifungals against the pathogen Candida albicans, and inhibits virulence traits and biofilm formation in animal models of infection.

Social interactions among people are often repeated, and yet it is assumed that simultaneous interactions are independent from one another. Here, Reiter and colleagues describe a conceptual framework where an action in one game can influence the decision in another.

Biotin is an essential vitamin in the regulation of energy metabolism. Here Madsen et al.show that biotin deficiency in yeast leads to hyperacetylation of mitochondrial proteins that is compensated for by the SIRT-like deacetylase Hst4p.

Analysis of synergistic muscle activations during locomotion and anatomical tracing of muscle synergy representations in the rodent spinal cord guide the development of a new spinal implant for neuromodulation therapy. In multiple rodent models of spinal cord injury, spatiotemporal stimulation that mimics naturalistic muscle activation patterns promotes improved functional recovery over previously described continuous stimulation protocols.

Comprehensive analyses of 178 lung squamous cell carcinomas by The Cancer Genome Atlas project show that the tumour type is characterized by complex genomic alterations, with statistically recurrent mutations in 11 genes, including TP53 in nearly all samples; a potential therapeutic target is identified in most of the samples studied.

Analysis of whole-genome sequencing data across 2,658 tumors spanning 38 cancer types shows that chromothripsis is pervasive, with a frequency of more than 50% in several cancer types, contributing to oncogene amplification, gene inactivation and cancer genome evolution.

In this Review, Kaltenpoth et al. examine the evolution and function of beneficial symbioses between bacteria and their insect hosts, focusing on their effects on the host fitness and the microbial factors that play a role in the evolution of these symbiotic associations.

Analysis of mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) by using whole-genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancer samples across 38 cancer types identifies hypermutated mtDNA cases, frequent somatic nuclear transfer of mtDNA and high variability of mtDNA copy number in many cancers.

Efficient, large-scale genomic analysis is facilitated on the cloud by a computational tool with error-diagnosing and self-healing capabilities.

Transcription can pose a threat to genomic instability through the formation of R-loops, which are RNA–DNA hybrids with a displaced non-template DNA strand. Here the authors mapped the R-loop proximal proteome in human cells and identified a role of the tumor suppressor DDX41 in opposing R-loop and double strand DNA break accumulation in gene promoters.

Different adaptive mechanisms have been reported to reduce the efficacy of mutant BRAF inhibition in melanoma. Here, the authors show BRAF inhibition induces the translational regulation of metabolic genes leading to acquired therapy resistance.

A protein’s three-dimensional structure and properties are defined by its amino-acid sequence, but mapping protein sequence to protein function is a computationally highly intensive task. A new generative adversarial network approach learns from natural protein sequences and generates new, diverse protein sequence variations, which are experimentally tested.

The human monoclonal antibody S2X259 cross-reacts with spike proteins from all clades of sarbecovirus, and provides prophylactic and therapeutic protection in vivo against parental SARS-CoV-2 and emerging variants of concern.

The morphology of a robot determines how efficiently it can traverse different terrain. Nygaard and colleagues present here a robot that can adapt it’s morphology when it is detecting different terrain and learn which configuration is most effective.

High methionine and S-adenosylmethionine serum levels are related with obesity. Here the authors show that knockdown of methionine adenosyltransferase by using antisense oligonucleotides provides beneficial effects in obesity and comorbidities.

Bradyzoites are a quiescent form of Toxoplasma gondii enclosed in cysts during chronic infections. Here, Christiansen et al. develop a human myotube-based in vitro culture model of cysts that are infectious to mice and characterize their metabolism in comparison to fast replicating tachyzoites.

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.

The increase in needs for agricultural commodities is projected to outpace the growth of farmland production globally, leading to high pressure on farming systems in the next decades. Here, the authors investigate the future impact of cropland expansion and intensification on agricultural markets and biodiversity, and suggest the need for balancing agricultural production with conservation goals.

A journalistic account of the case of data manipulation by physicist Jan Hendrik Schön is rich in detail but draws the wrong conclusions about the self-correcting processes of science, argues Martin Blume.