MICROBIOLOGY Correction for “Using synthetic biology to overcome barriers to stable expression of nitrogenase …

DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY Correction for “Acrosin is essential for sperm penetration through the zona pellucida in hamsters,” by Michiko Hirose, Arata …

CELL BIOLOGY Correction for “β-Arrestin2 is a critical component of the GPCR–eNOS signalosome,” by Songling Liu, Louis M. Luttrell, Richard T. …

BIOCHEMISTRY, CHEMISTRY Correction for “Genomic analysis of siderophore β-hydroxylases reveals divergent stereocontrol and expands …

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) has gained international attention over the past decade, as manifested in both United Nations policy discussions and hundreds of voluntary projects launched to earn carbon-offset credits. There are ongoing discussions about whether and how projects should be integrated into national climate change mitigation efforts under the Paris

Population estimates are critical for government services, development projects, and public health campaigns. Such data are typically obtained through a national population and housing census. However, population estimates can quickly become inaccurate in localized areas, particularly where migration or displacement has occurred. Some conflict-affected and resource-poor countries have not conducted

Standard epidemiological models for COVID-19 employ variants of compartment (SIR or susceptible–infectious–recovered) models at local scales, implicitly assuming spatially uniform local mixing. Here, we examine the effect of employing more geographically detailed diffusion models based on known spatial features of interpersonal networks, most particularly the presence of a long-tailed but monotone

In the real world, complex dynamic scenes often arise from the composition of simpler parts. The visual system exploits this structure by hierarchically decomposing dynamic scenes: When we see a person walking on a train or an animal running in a herd, we recognize the individual’s movement as nested within a reference frame that is, itself, moving. Despite its ubiquity, surprisingly little is understood

Science is undergoing rapid change with the movement to improve science focused largely on reproducibility/replicability and open science practices. This moment of change—in which science turns inward to examine its methods and practices—provides an opportunity to address its historic lack of diversity and noninclusive culture. Through network modeling and semantic analysis, we provide an initial exploration

Adaptive behavior relies on the selection of relevant sensory information from both the external environment and internal memory representations. In understanding external selection, a classic distinction is made between voluntary (goal-directed) and involuntary (stimulus-driven) guidance of attention. We have developed a task—the anti-retrocue task—to separate and examine voluntary and involuntary

At the beginning of life, inexperienced babies and human fetuses, domestic chicks, and monkeys exhibit a preference for faces and face-like configurations (three blobs arranged like an upside-down triangle). Because all of these species have parental care, it is not clear whether the early preference for faces is a mechanism for orienting toward the conspecifics and sustaining parental care, or a more

In the late stages of an epidemic, infections are often sporadic and geographically distributed. Spatially structured stochastic models can capture these important features of disease dynamics, thereby allowing a broader exploration of interventions. Here we develop a stochastic model of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission among an interconnected group of population

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an emerging, zoonotic, arboviral hemorrhagic fever threatening livestock and humans mainly in Africa. RVF is of global concern, having expanded its geographical range over the last decades. The impact of control measures on epidemic dynamics using empirical data has not been assessed. Here, we fitted a mathematical model to seroprevalence livestock and human RVF case data

Voluntary physical distancing is essential for preventing the spread of COVID-19. We assessed the role of political partisanship in individuals’ compliance with physical distancing recommendations of political leaders using data on mobility from a sample of mobile phones in 3,100 counties in the United States during March 2020, county-level partisan preferences, information about the political affiliation

The hormone auxin controls many aspects of the plant life cycle by regulating the expression of thousands of genes. The transcriptional output of the nuclear auxin signaling pathway is determined by the activity of AUXIN RESPONSE transcription FACTORs (ARFs), through their binding to cis-regulatory elements in auxin-responsive genes. Crystal structures, in vitro, and heterologous studies have fueled

The relationship between oxidative stress and cardiac stiffness is thought to involve modifications to the giant muscle protein titin, which in turn can determine the progression of heart disease. In vitro studies have shown that S-glutathionylation and disulfide bonding of titin fragments could alter the elastic properties of titin; however, whether and where titin becomes oxidized in vivo is less

Dynamics and kinetics in soft matter physics, biology, and nanoscience frequently occur on fast (sub)microsecond but not ultrafast timescales which are difficult to probe experimentally. The European X-ray Free-Electron Laser (European XFEL), a megahertz hard X-ray Free-Electron Laser source, enables such experiments via taking series of diffraction patterns at repetition rates of up to 4.5 MHz. Here

We describe a theory of packing hyperboloid “diabolic” domains in bend-free textures of liquid crystals. The domains sew together continuously, providing a menagerie of bend-free textures akin to the packing of focal conic domains in smectic liquid crystals. We show how distinct domains may be related to each other by Lorentz transformations and that this process may lower the elastic energy of the

The Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Nagoya Protocol in particular, provide a framework for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of biological resources and traditional knowledge, and ultimately aim to promote capacity-building in the developing world. However, measuring capacity-building is a challenging task due to its intangible nature. By compiling

Auditory hair cells receive olivocochlear efferent innervation, which refines tonotopic mapping, improves sound discrimination, and mitigates acoustic trauma. The olivocochlear synapse involves α9α10 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), which assemble in hair cells only coincident with cholinergic innervation and do not express in recombinant mammalian cell lines. Here, genome-wide screening

Hippocampal pyramidal neurons are characterized by a unique arborization subdivided in segregated dendritic domains receiving distinct excitatory synaptic inputs with specific properties and plasticity rules that shape their respective contributions to synaptic integration and action potential firing. Although the basal regulation and plastic range of proximal and distal synapses are known to be different

Homeostasis is indispensable to counteract the destabilizing effects of Hebbian plasticity. Although it is commonly assumed that homeostasis modulates synaptic strength, membrane excitability, and firing rates, its role at the neural circuit and network level is unknown. Here, we identify changes in higher-order network properties of freely behaving rodents during prolonged visual deprivation. Strikingly

The Hippo (MST1/2) pathway plays a critical role in restricting tissue growth in adults and modulating cell proliferation, differentiation, and migration in developing organs. Netrin1, a secreted laminin-related protein, is essential for nervous system development. However, the mechanisms underlying MST1 regulation by the extrinsic signals remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that Netrin1 reduction

Regulator gene of glucosyltransferase (Rgg) family proteins, such as Rgg2 and Rgg3, have emerged as primary quorum-sensing regulated transcription factors in Streptococcus species, controlling virulence, antimicrobial resistance, and biofilm formation. Rgg2 and Rgg3 function is regulated by their interaction with oligopeptide quorum-sensing signals called short hydrophobic peptides (SHPs). The molecular

Mechanistic studies of anaerobic gut bacteria have been hindered by the lack of a fluorescent protein system to track and visualize proteins and dynamic cellular processes in actively growing bacteria. Although underappreciated, many gut “anaerobes” are able to respire using oxygen as the terminal electron acceptor. The oxygen continually released from gut epithelial cells creates an oxygen gradient

Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes are refractory to flavivirus infections, but the role of lipids in Wolbachia-mediated virus blocking remains to be elucidated. Here, we use liquid chromatography mass spectrometry to provide a comprehensive picture of the lipidome of Aedes aegypti (Aag2) cells infected with Wolbachia only, either dengue or Zika virus only, and Wolbachia-infected Aag2 cells superinfected

Microglia are considered both pathogenic and protective during recovery from demyelination, but their precise role remains ill defined. Here, using an inhibitor of colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R), PLX5622, and mice infected with a neurotropic coronavirus (mouse hepatitis virus [MHV], strain JHMV), we show that depletion of microglia during the time of JHMV clearance resulted in impaired

Aerobic and nitrite-dependent methanotrophs make a living from oxidizing methane via methanol to carbon dioxide. In addition, these microorganisms cometabolize ammonia due to its structural similarities to methane. The first step in both of these processes is catalyzed by methane monooxygenase, which converts methane or ammonia into methanol or hydroxylamine, respectively. Methanotrophs use methanol

The current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has had an enormous impact on society worldwide, threatening the lives and livelihoods of many. The effects will continue to grow and worsen if economies begin to open without the proper precautions, including expanded diagnostic capabilities. To address this need for increased testing, we have developed a sensitive

Polysaccharide-protein conjugates have been developed to overcome the T-independent response, hyporesponsiveness to repeated vaccination, and poor immunogenicity in infants of polysaccharides. To address the impact of polysaccharide length, typhoid conjugates made with short- and long-chain fractions of Vi polysaccharide with average sizes of 9.5, 22.8, 42.7, 82.0, and 165 kDa were compared. Long-chain-conjugated

Sphingolipid dysregulation is often associated with insulin resistance, while the enzymes controlling sphingolipid metabolism are emerging as therapeutic targets for improving insulin sensitivity. We report herein that sphingosine kinase 2 (SphK2), a key enzyme in sphingolipid catabolism, plays a critical role in the regulation of hepatic insulin signaling and glucose homeostasis both in vitro and

PIK3CA hotspot mutation is well established as an oncogenic driver event in cancer and its durable and efficacious inhibition is a focus in the development and testing of clinical cancer therapeutics. However, hundreds of cancer-associated PIK3CA mutations remain uncharacterized, their sensitivity to PI3K inhibitors unknown. Here, we describe a series of PIK3CA C-terminal mutations, primarily nucleotide

KRAS mutant lung adenocarcinomas remain intractable for targeted therapies. Genetic interrogation of KRAS downstream effectors, including the MAPK pathway and the interphase CDKs, identified CDK4 and RAF1 as the only targets whose genetic inactivation induces therapeutic responses without causing unacceptable toxicities. Concomitant CDK4 inactivation and RAF1 ablation prevented tumor progression and

Calcium signals are initiated in immune cells by the process of store-operated calcium entry (SOCE), where receptor activation triggers transient calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum, followed by opening of plasma-membrane calcium-release activated calcium (CRAC) channels. ORAI1, ORAI2, and ORAI3 are known to comprise the CRAC channel; however, the contributions of individual isoforms to

Enhancing long-term persistence while simultaneously potentiating the effector response of CD8+ T cells has been a long-standing goal in immunology to produce better vaccines and adoptive cell therapy products. NR4A3 is a transcription factor of the orphan nuclear receptor family. While it is rapidly and transiently expressed following T cell activation, its role in the early stages of T cell response

An improved understanding of human T cell-mediated immunity in COVID-19 is important for optimizing therapeutic and vaccine strategies. Experience with influenza shows that infection primes CD8+ T cell memory to peptides presented by common HLA types like HLA-A2, which enhances recovery and diminishes clinical severity upon reinfection. Stimulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells from COVID-19 convalescent

Engineered gene drives are being explored as a new strategy in the fight against vector-borne diseases due to their potential for rapidly spreading genetic modifications through a population. However, CRISPR-based homing gene drives proposed for this purpose have faced a major obstacle in the formation of resistance alleles that prevent Cas9 cleavage. Here, we present a homing drive in Drosophila melanogaster

New Guinea singing dogs (NGSD) are identifiable by their namesake vocalizations, which are unlike any other canid population. Their novel behaviors and potential singular origin during dog domestication make them an attractive, but elusive, subject for evolutionary and conservation study. Although once plentiful on the island of New Guinea (NG), they were presumed to currently exist only in captivity

We introduce a method to draw causal inferences—inferences immune to all possible confounding—from genetic data that include parents and offspring. Causal conclusions are possible with these data because the natural randomness in meiosis can be viewed as a high-dimensional randomized experiment. We make this observation actionable by developing a conditional independence test that identifies regions

The mechanisms underlying sex determination are astonishingly plastic. Particularly the triggers for the molecular machinery, which recalls either the male or female developmental program, are highly variable and have evolved independently and repeatedly. Fish show a huge variety of sex determination systems, including both genetic and environmental triggers. The advent of sex chromosomes is assumed

The stability of ecological communities is critical for the stable provisioning of ecosystem services, such as food and forage production, carbon sequestration, and soil fertility. Greater biodiversity is expected to enhance stability across years by decreasing synchrony among species, but the drivers of stability in nature remain poorly resolved. Our analysis of time series from 79 datasets across

Predicted increases in global average temperature are physiologically trivial for most endotherms. However, heat waves will also increase in both frequency and severity, and these will be physiologically more important. Lactating small mammals are hypothesized to be limited by heat dissipation capacity, suggesting high temperatures may adversely impact lactation performance. We measured reproductive

Rice agriculture is the foundation of Asian civilizations south of the Yangtze River. Although rice history is well documented for its lower Yangtze homeland area, the early southward expansion of paddy rice farming is poorly known. Our study investigates this process using a compilation of paleoenvironmental proxies from coastal sediment cores from southeast China to Thailand and Island Southeast

The sonic hedgehog subtype of medulloblastoma (SHH MB) is associated with treatment failure and poor outcome. Current strategies utilizing whole brain radiation therapy result in deleterious off-target effects on the normal developing childhood brain. Most conventional chemotherapies remain limited by ineffective blood–brain barrier (BBB) penetrance. These challenges signify an unmet need for drug

Deployability, multifunctionality, and tunability are features that can be explored in the design space of origami engineering solutions. These features arise from the shape-changing capabilities of origami assemblies, which require effective actuation for full functionality. Current actuation strategies rely on either slow or tethered or bulky actuators (or a combination). To broaden applications

Many mental health disorders first manifest in adolescence, and early treatment may affect the course of the disease. Using a large national database of insurance claims, this study focuses on variations in the type of care that adolescent patients receive when they are treated for an initial episode of mental illness. We found large variations in the probability that children receive follow-up care

The Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) (55.6 Mya) was a geologically rapid carbon-release event that is considered the closest natural analog to anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Recent work has used boron-based proxies in planktic foraminifera to characterize the extent of surface-ocean acidification that occurred during the event. However, seawater acidity alone provides an incomplete constraint

From its pole-to-pole orbit, the Juno spacecraft discovered arrays of cyclonic vortices in polygonal patterns around the poles of Jupiter. In the north, there are eight vortices around a central vortex, and in the south there are five. The patterns and the individual vortices that define them have been stable since August 2016. The azimuthal velocity profile vs. radius has been measured, but vertical

Understanding the mechanism of action of compounds capable of inhibiting amyloid-fibril formation is critical to the development of potential therapeutics against protein-misfolding diseases. A fundamental challenge for progress is the range of possible target species and the disparate timescales involved, since the aggregating proteins are simultaneously the reactants, products, intermediates, and

Enhanced surface mobility is critical in producing stable glasses during physical vapor deposition. In amorphous selenium (a-Se) both the structure and dynamics of the surface can be altered when exposed to above-bandgap light. Here we investigate the effect of light on the properties of vapor-deposited a-Se glasses at a range of substrate temperatures and deposition rates. We demonstrate that deposition

The rates and outcomes of virtually all photophysical and photochemical processes are determined by conical intersections. These are regions of degeneracy between electronic states on the nuclear landscape of molecules where electrons and nuclei evolve on comparable timescales and thus become strongly coupled, enabling radiationless relaxation channels upon optical excitation. Due to their ultrafast

Kindlin-3 (K3)–mediated integrin adhesion controls homing and bone marrow (BM) retention of normal hematopoietic cells. However, the role of K3 in leukemic stem cell (LSC) retention and growth in the remodeled tumor-promoting BM is unclear. We report that loss of K3 in a mouse model of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) triggers the release of LSCs from the BM into the circulation and impairs their retention

Platelets are best known for their vasoprotective responses to injury and inflammation. Here, we have asked whether they also support vascular integrity when neither injury nor inflammation is present. Changes in vascular barrier function in dermal and meningeal vessels were measured in real time in mouse models using the differential extravasation of fluorescent tracers as a biomarker. Severe thrombocytopenia

Bright, photostable, and nontoxic fluorescent contrast agents are critical for biological imaging. “Self-healing” dyes, in which triplet states are intramolecularly quenched, enable fluorescence imaging by increasing fluorophore brightness and longevity, while simultaneously reducing the generation of reactive oxygen species that promote phototoxicity. Here, we systematically examine the self-healing

The notion that protein function is allosterically regulated by structural or dynamic changes in proteins has been extensively investigated in several protein domains in isolation. In particular, PDZ domains have represented a paradigm for these studies, despite providing conflicting results. Furthermore, it is still unknown how the association between protein domains in supramodules, consitituting

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder that shows chronic and progressive damage to skeletal and cardiac muscle leading to premature death. Antiinflammatory corticosteroids targeting the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) are the current standard of care but drive adverse side effects such as deleterious bone loss. Through subtle modification to a steroidal backbone, a recently developed drug

Proline-rich domains (PRDs) are among the most prevalent signaling modules of eukaryotes but often unexplored by biophysical techniques as their heterologous recombinant expression poses significant difficulties. Using a “divide-and-conquer” approach, we present a detailed investigation of a PRD (166 residues; ∼30% prolines) belonging to a human protein ALIX, a versatile adaptor protein involved in

Affinity grids have great potential to facilitate rapid preparation of even quite impure samples in single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (EM). Yet despite the promising advances of affinity grids over the past decades, no single strategy has demonstrated general utility. Here we chemically functionalize cryo-EM grids coated with mostly one or two layers of graphene oxide to facilitate affinity

The small GTPase KRAS is localized at the plasma membrane where it functions as a molecular switch, coupling extracellular growth factor stimulation to intracellular signaling networks. In this process, KRAS recruits effectors, such as RAF kinase, to the plasma membrane where they are activated by a series of complex molecular steps. Defining the membrane-bound state of KRAS is fundamental to understanding

Fatty acid synthases (FASs) and polyketide synthases (PKSs) iteratively elongate and often reduce two-carbon ketide units in de novo fatty acid and polyketide biosynthesis. Cycles of chain extensions in FAS and PKS are initiated by an acyltransferase (AT), which loads monomer units onto acyl carrier proteins (ACPs), small, flexible proteins that shuttle covalently linked intermediates between catalytic