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This study presents a 3D large-range, boundary-identical, and open-cell microstructure datasets for the fast data-driven inverse design of bicontinuous multiscale structures with tunable elasticity and permeability for multifunctional applications.

The genetic mechanisms of why polyploid plants exhibit adaptive advantages over diploids are unclear. Here, the authors assemble the autotetraploid alfalfa genome, incorporate it into a pangenome analysis, and reveal the trade-off between adaptive advantages and evolutionary constraints mediated by tetra-copy core genes.

Iron-based superconductors have the potential to carry higher currents and withstand higher magnetic fields than present-day superconducting cables. Using an approach developed for cuprates, Si et al. improve the high-field performance of iron-based superconductors well beyond that of conventional superconductors.

Estimating timing of the origin of angiosperms has been challenging. Using Bayesian node dating and the skyline fossilized birth-death model, the authors estimate a Triassic crown age for angiosperms, and addresses discrepancy between molecular clock studies and fossil evidence.

Internal organs are hard to fossilize and so far only digestive and nervous systems have been described for the Cambrian arthropod Fuxianhuia protensa. Here, Ma et al. describe cardiovascular structures of F. protensaand show that they are similar to the vascular system of extant arthropods.

This study discovers giant negative thermal expansion (volume contraction) in PrMnO₃ above 1000 K, linked to a unique 3D network of elongated chemical bonds, offering a new design strategy for high-temperature volume contraction materials.

Radiotherapy is an important part of glioblastoma (GBM) treatment, but patient outcomes are often limited by resistance. Here, the authors identify a role for IFI16 in the promotion of a cellular senescence-like phenotype, inhibiting ferroptosis and driving radioresistance which can be overcome with Glyburide in preclinical GBM models.

Target identification of natural products plays a critical role in the development of innovative drugs. Here, this group integrates molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations on Bufalin and reports the potential targets as well as its role in reversing endocrine resistance.

“Ulvophyceae is a remarkably morphologically and ecologically diverse clade of green algae. Here, the authors reconstruct the Ulvophyceae phylogeny, showing that these algae originated earlier than expected and may have influenced biogeochemical cycles at the Mesoproterozoic-Neoproterozoic transition.”

A new species of worm from the early Cambrian period of China may represent the earliest evidence for host-specific infestation in bilaterians.

Evolutionary relationships among green plants are unresolved and, in particular, the phylogenetic position of Prasinodermophyta remains controversial. Here, the authors conduct phylogenomic analyses to resolve relationships within Viridiplantae, suggesting that this group diverged between the Great Oxidation Event and the Neoproterozoic Oxygenation Event.

Hydrogel materials have emerged as versatile platforms for biomedical applications. Here this group reports an mRNA lipid nanoparticle-incorporated microgel matrix for immune cell recruitment/antigen expression and presentation/cellular interaction thereby eliciting antitumor efficacy with a single dose.

Microfold cells (M-cell) are specialized cells of the intestine that sample luminal microbiota and dietary antigens. Here the authors show that epithelial non-canonical NFκB signalling, as induced by NIK, is important for M-cells maintenance, yet constitutive NIK activation is associated with gut inflammation and inflammatory bowel disease.

Gut microbiota-derived succinate promotes CitC succinyltransferase-dependent succinylation of PurR to alleviate T3SS repression and promote virulence in enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli and Citrobacter rodentium.

Cotton plants are characterized by the presence of darkly pigmented glands that accumulate metabolites that contribute to plant defence but limit the use of cottonseed as food. Here, Ma et al. provide evidence that GoPGF, a bHLH transcription factor, is responsible for gland formation.

Schief and colleagues show that germline-targeting epitope scaffolds can elicit responses from rare broadly neutralizing antibody precursor B cells with predefined binding specificities and genetic features.

Lipidomics revealed that neurons of patients with ALS/FTD have reduced levels of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-containing phospholipids. Increasing neuronal PUFA levels increased survival of Drosophila models of ALS/FTD and patient neurons, suggesting that interventions that increase neuronal PUFA levels in patients with ALS/FTD may also be beneficial.

Cambrian great appendage arthropods had heads that bore a claw-like appendage pair; neuroanatomical and phylogenetic analysis of a well-preserved Alalcomenaeus fossil reveals the relationship of great appendage arthropods to Chelicerata.

The composition of lipid nanoparticles for the delivery of tumour-antigen-encoding mRNA can be optimized via a screening method to enhance antitumour activity via the modulation of the immune activity of helper T cells.

Biologics are delivered by a pill that pricks the stomach wall.

An anomalocaridid from the Cambrian period of China is so well preserved that its anterior nervous system can be resolved.

An arthropod specimen from an early Cambrian deposit in China shows a nervous system very similar to that of modern insects and crustaceans, suggesting that insect and crustacean nervous systems evolved from a relatively complex ancestral one, and that simple animals, such as branchiopod shrimps, have evolved a marked reduction in the complexity of their nervous systems.

Monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) is an outer mitochondrial membrane-bound enzyme best known for its function in the brain, but also linked to cancer progression. Here, the authors show that MAO-A is expressed in tumor associated macrophages, promoting their immunosuppressive properties, and that MAO inhibition suppresses tumor growth in preclinical models.

Model systems to study SARS-CoV-2 infection are required to better understand the immune response. Here the authors use a lung and macrophage co-culture system by differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells to better understand the phenotype and gene expression changes in host lung cells and macrophages after SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro.

In this study, Mo et al. describe a novel biotechnological strategy to produce crop plants resistant to lepidopteran pests.

Dannychaeta tucolus, a bristle worm from the early Cambrian period, belongs to crown annelids, and has characters that provide evidence of ecological and morphological diversity in ancient annelids, thus reconciling the fossil record with molecular phylogenetic analyses.

The finding of pharyngeal teeth and circumoral mouthparts in fossils of the Cambrian lobopodian animal Hallucigenia sparsa improves our understanding of the deep evolutionary links between moulting animals. See Letter p.75

High-quality de novo–assembled genomes of two cultivated allotetraploid cotton species and whole-genome comparative analyses provide insights into the evolution of cotton genomes and improvement of fiber quality and resilience to stress.

The Chengjiang Biota is the earliest most diverse animal community from the Cambrian Explosion (~518 million years ago). This biota is shown to have colonized a delta, highlighting the importance of this shallow environment in recording early snapshots of life on Earth.

Dayou Zhai et al. show marked variation in limb morphology and patterns in limb-tagmosis in three early Cambrian bradoriid arthropods. This suggests remarkable evolutionary convergence, either of fundamental body plans or appendage specialization patterns.