Articles in 2016

Alx3-induced modulation of Mitf expression alters melanocyte differentiation and gives rise to the hair colour differences underlying the repeated evolution of dorsal stripes in rodents.

Human tumours with mutations in LKB1 and Kras have a specific hypermetabolic state associated with increased DNA methylation, pointing to potential metabolic and epigenetic vulnerabilities of specific tumours.

Natural isolates of Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes differ in their sensitivity to the anti-exploratory pheromone icas#9, yielding two distinct foraging strategies that possess different survival advantages depending on environmental conditions such as food distribution.

S-2-hydroxyglutarate produced by CD8+ T cells under hypoxic conditions affects locus-specific histone and DNA methylation patterns, which enhances T-cell proliferation, survival and recall responses.

Transplanted embryonic neurons in mice mature and achieve adult-like properties within 4–8 weeks, receiving appropriate inputs and establishing stimulus-selective responses.

REXER, a new method that allows long sections of DNA to be inserted or replaced in the genome of the bacterium Escherichia coli, is used to investigate codon replacement schemes for the generation of synthetic genomes.

Specific intramolecular interactions of mitofusin 2 amino acid sequences either constrain or permit mitochondrial fusion and the addition of short peptides matching these sequences stabilize the fusion-constrained or fusion-permissive form, thus inhibiting or promoting mitochondrial fusion.

S63845 specifically inhibits MCL1 and induces tumour cell death in vitro and in vivo in diverse cancer-derived cell lines with an acceptable safety margin.

Alternative lengthening of telomeres in cancer cells is initiated by a specialized replisome and noncanonical homologous recombination at damaged telomeres, culminating in the synthesis of long tracts of telomere DNA.

The two homoeologous subgenomes in the allotetraploid frog Xenopus laevis evolved asymmetrically; one often retained the ancestral state, whereas the other experienced gene loss, deletion, rearrangement and reduced gene expression.

The extinct Andreolepis, an early fish that is close to the common ancestor of all bony fish and land vertebrates, shed its teeth by basal resportion—the earliest example of this mode of tooth replacement.

Anaerobic archaea enriched in thermophilic microbial consortia completely degrade butane by modifying mechanisms which were hitherto thought to be specific to methane metabolism.

A ‘differentiable neural computer’ is introduced that combines the learning capabilities of a neural network with an external memory analogous to the random-access memory in a conventional computer.

In Gram-positive bacteria, arginine phosphorylation by the McsB kinase functions as a general post-translational marker for Clp-mediated proteolysis.

The mystery of how bacteria that lack motile structures such as pili or flagella can ‘glide’ along surfaces is solved by a detailed description of the bacterial focal adhesion complex and its associated protein machinery.

The structure of the bacterial toxin BinAB, which is used to combat mosquito-borne diseases, reveals pH-sensitive switches and carbohydrate-binding modules that may contribute to the larvicidal function of the toxin.

Here, a genome-wide CRISPR–Cas9 screen is used to identify the Wnt receptors frizzled as physiologically relevant Clostridium difficile toxin B receptors, providing new therapeutic targets for treating C. difficile infections.

Respirasomes are supercomplexes of mitochondrial electron transport chain complexes that are responsible for cellular respiration and energy production; a cryo-electron microscopy structural study of the respirasome is presented.

Respirasomes are supercomplexes of mitochondrial electron transport chain complexes that are responsible for cellular respiration and energy production; cryo-electron microscopy structures of mammalian (sheep) respirasomes are presented.

Whole-genome sequence data for 108 individuals representing 28 language groups across Australia and five language groups for Papua New Guinea suggests that Aboriginal Australians and Papuans diverged from Eurasian populations approximately 60–100 thousand years ago, following a single out-of-Africa dispersal and subsequent admixture with archaic populations.