Nature Communications - 28 May 2014

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Weekly Content Alert 28 May 2014  Featured image: Zeuss et al. show that light-coloured insects are favoured in warm climates and by global warming in Europe. Latest content: Articles Corrigendum Journal homepage Recommend to library Web feed   Advertisement Early bird offer! Last chance. Get one year Nature subscription for free - sign up before May 31! Join the most influential at EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) 2014 Copenhagen - June 21-26, 2014 and be the first to know.    Advertisement An open access online-only multidisciplinary journal publishing high-quality research in all areas of primary care management of respiratory and respiratory-related allergic diseases. This title is part of the Nature Partner Journals portfolio - a new series of online open access journals published in collaboration with world-renowned international partners.        Latest Articles View all Articles     Chemical–genetic attenuation of focal neocortical seizures OPEN Dennis Kätzel, Elizabeth Nicholson, Stephanie Schorge, Matthew C. Walker and Dimitri M. Kullmann Focal epilepsy is difficult to treat with currently available drugs or surgical approaches. Kätzel et al. express mutant inhibitory receptors in the brains of rats with focal epilepsy and selectively activate these receptors by an exogenous compound, which results in region- and time-specific suppression of focal seizures 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4847 Biological Sciences  Medical research  Neuroscience  Global warming favours light-coloured insects in Europe OPEN Dirk Zeuss, Roland Brandl, Martin Brändle, Carsten Rahbek and Stefan Brunzel Large-scale effects of climate on the distribution of insects are unclear. Here, the authors use data from European butterflies and dragonflies to show that light-coloured insect species are favoured in warmer climates, which has implications in forecasting the potential impact of climate change. 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4874 Biological Sciences  Ecology  Evolution  Multiscale structural gradients enhance the biomechanical functionality of the spider fang OPEN Benny Bar-On, Friedrich G. Barth, Peter Fratzl and Yael Politi Fangs are segments of the spider mouthparts, which are used to inject venom into prey and are required to sustain large mechanical loads. Here, the authors perform experiment-driven simulations, so to understand the correlation between the multiscale structural gradients and the biomechanical function of the fang. 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4894 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Fabrication of crystals from single metal atoms OPEN Nicolas P. E. Barry, Anaïs Pitto-Barry, Ana M. Sanchez, Andrew P. Dove, Richard J. Procter, Joan J. Soldevila-Barreda, Nigel Kirby, Ian Hands-Portman, Corinne J. Smith, Rachel K. O'Reilly, Richard Beanland and Peter J. Sadler Metal nanocrystals are used in an ever growing list of applications, but precise control and understanding of their formation can be difficult. Here, the authors show a route that allows the controlled formation of metal nanocrystals to be carried out and observed at an atom-by-atom level. 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4851 Chemical Sciences  Inorganic chemistry  Materials science  Mesopore quality determines the lifetime of hierarchically structured zeolite catalysts Maria Milina, Sharon Mitchell, Paolo Crivelli, David Cooke and Javier Pérez-Ramírez Zeolite catalysts are industrially important, but may be deactivated by coking. Here, the authors demonstrate the effectiveness of top-down demetallation approaches in controlling mesopore formation, using a range of techniques to probe the resulting structures and assess the effects on catalyst lifetime. 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4922 Chemical Sciences  Catalysis  Materials science  The Arabidopsis transcription factor bZIP11 activates auxin-mediated transcription by recruiting the histone acetylation machinery Christoph Weiste and Wolfgang Dröge-Laser Histone acetylation has been proposed to be crucial for the regulation of gene transcription controlled by the plant hormone auxin. Here, the authors show that the bZIP11 transcription factor activates auxin-mediated transcription by recruiting the histone acetylation machinery. 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4883 Biological Sciences  Molecular biology  Plant sciences  Sex pheromone biosynthetic pathways are conserved between moths and the butterfly Bicyclus anynana OPEN Marjorie A Liénard, Hong-Lei Wang, Jean-Marc Lassance and Christer Löfstedt Little is known about the evolutionary origins of the genes involved in butterfly pheromone synthesis. Here, Liénard et al. show that the biosynthetic pathways involved in the production of male courtship scents of the butterfly, Bicyclus anynana, are shared with females of many moth species. 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4957 Biological Sciences  Ecology  Evolution  Sub-15-nm patterning of asymmetric metal electrodes and devices by adhesion lithography OPEN David J. Beesley, James Semple, Lethy Krishnan Jagadamma, Aram Amassian, Martyn A. McLachlan, Thomas D. Anthopoulos and John C. deMello Electron-beam lithography is often used for patterning of asymmetric metal electrodes for nanoscale devices, but suffers from several limitations. Here, the authors report a new adhesion lithography process, which allows for high-throughput and simple fabrication of nanogap metal electrodes. 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4933 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Loss of frugivore seed dispersal services under climate change Karel Mokany, Soumya Prasad and David A. Westcott Seed dispersal can determine the ability of plant species to track shifting climates; therefore, it can influence future biodiversity outcomes. Here, the authors model seed dispersal by fruit-eating vertebrates across the Australian Wet Tropics rainforest and find that it is projected to markedly decrease for many plant species. 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4971 Biological Sciences  Ecology  Evolution  Enhanced role of eddies in the Arctic marine biological pump OPEN Eiji Watanabe, Jonaotaro Onodera, Naomi Harada, Makio C. Honda, Katsunori Kimoto, Takashi Kikuchi, Shigeto Nishino, Kohei Matsuno, Atsushi Yamaguchi, Akio Ishida and Michio J. Kishi Arctic sea ice has been in rapid decline in recent decades, yet the impact on biogeochemical cycling is unknown due to insufficient sampling. Watanabe et al. combine year-long mooring observations with numerical models to show that an eddy-induced biological pump would be enhanced by sea ice retreat. 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4950 Earth Sciences  Biogeochemistry  Climate science  Oceanography  Spinel-type lithium cobalt oxide as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions Thandavarayan Maiyalagan, Karalee A. Jarvis, Soosairaj Therese, Paulo J. Ferreira and Arumugam Manthiram The development of electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution and reduction is critical for rechargeable metal-air battery applications. Here, the authors synthesize and evaluate a delithiated spinel-type lithium cobalt oxide that exhibits promising performance for both processes. 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4949 Chemical Sciences  Catalysis  Inorganic chemistry  Materials science  The refractive index and electronic gap of water and ice increase with increasing pressure OPEN Ding Pan, Quan Wan and Giulia Galli The properties of water at pressures above 10 GPa are currently inaccessible to experiments, but crucial to the understanding of water in the Earth crust and mantle. Pan et al. show that both the electronic gap and refractive index of water increase with pressure in ab initio simulations. 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4919 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Fluids and plasma physics  Materials science  Improving lithium–sulphur batteries through spatial control of sulphur species deposition on a hybrid electrode surface Hongbin Yao, Guangyuan Zheng, Po-Chun Hsu, Desheng Kong, Judy J. Cha, Weiyang Li, Zhi Wei Seh, Matthew T. McDowell, Kai Yan, Zheng Liang, Vijay Kris Narasimhan and Yi Cui Dissolution of sulphur into electrolyte is a major problem in lithium–sulphur batteries. Here, Yao et al. use an indium oxide-carbon interface and a polysulphide catholyte, and show that polysulphides preferentially deposit onto the oxide surface during electrochemical processes, thus alleviating the sulphur loss. 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4943 Chemical Sciences  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Conformational targeting of intracellular Aβ oligomers demonstrates their pathological oligomerization inside the endoplasmic reticulum OPEN Giovanni Meli, Agnese Lecci, Annalisa Manca, Nina Krako, Valentina Albertini, Luisa Benussi, Roberta Ghidoni and Antonino Cattaneo Intracellular Aβ oligomers have been linked to Alzheimer's disease but details about their biosynthesis and function have been hard to obtain due to the lack of selective approaches for targeting them. Here, Meli et al. develop a strategy using recombinant antibodies to target Aβ oligomers in the endoplasmic reticulum of cells, and perform mechanistic studies in cellular models of the disease. 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4867 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Neuroscience  Design of synthetic yeast promoters via tuning of nucleosome architecture Kathleen A. Curran, Nathan C. Crook, Ashty S. Karim, Akash Gupta, Allison M. Wagman and Hal S. Alper Model-based part design is a key step in synthetic biology. Here, the authors report a method for tuning nucleosome architecture in order to strengthen native promoters and facilitate synthetic promoter design in yeast. 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms5002 Biological Sciences  Bioengineering  Bioinformatics  Spectrally selective chiral silicon metasurfaces based on infrared Fano resonances Chihhui Wu, Nihal Arju, Glen Kelp, Jonathan A. Fan, Jason Dominguez, Edward Gonzales, Emanuel Tutuc, Igal Brener and Gennady Shvets Despite their two-dimensional nature, metasurfaces offer flexible and efficient control over the properties of light passing through them. Here, the authors realize chiral silicon-based metasurfaces for applications as polarizers or as emitters of polarized thermal radiation. 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4892 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Nanotechnology  Optical physics  A design strategy for the hierarchical fabrication of colloidal hybrid mesostructures Lin Jia, Guangyao Zhao, Weiqing Shi, Neil Coombs, Ilya Gourevich, Gilbert C. Walker, Gerald Guerin, Ian Manners and Mitchell A. Winnik Achieving a high degree of control over the self-assembly process is a challenging task, but one that can give access to precisely defined structures. Here, the authors show the generation of hybrid materials with controlled morphology and hierarchy based on the assembly of block copolymers on silica cores. 27 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4882 Chemical Sciences  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Physical chemistry  Mobile elements drive recombination hotspots in the core genome of Staphylococcus aureus OPEN Richard G. Everitt, Xavier Didelot, Elizabeth M. Batty, Ruth R Miller, Kyle Knox, Bernadette C. Young, Rory Bowden, Adam Auton, Antonina Votintseva, Hanna Larner-Svensson, Jane Charlesworth, Tanya Golubchik, Camilla L. C. Ip, Heather Godwin, Rowena Fung, Tim E. A. Peto, A. Sarah Walker, Derrick W. Crook and Daniel J. Wilson Horizontal gene transfer occurs in most bacteria, yet it is unclear whether it happens in clonal species. Here, Everitt et al. show widespread within-species recombination, driven by mobile elements, in the genome of the pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, but no recombination between closely related strains. 23 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4956 Biological Sciences  Evolution  Genetics  Microbiology  Electroformation of Janus and patchy capsules OPEN Zbigniew Rozynek, Alexander Mikkelsen, Paul Dommersnes and Jon Otto Fossum Colloidal self-assembly at liquid interfaces has important emulsion applications, for food, household or personal care products, and drug encapsulation. Here, the authors develop a method of forming patchy heterogeneous capsules by electro-coalescence of multiple liquid drops. 23 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4945 Physical Sciences  Fluids and plasma physics  Materials science  Clathrin light chains are required for the gyrating-clathrin recycling pathway and thereby promote cell migration OPEN Sophia R. Majeed, Lavanya Vasudevan, Chih-Ying Chen, Yi Luo, Jorge A. Torres, Timothy M. Evans, Andrew Sharkey, Amy B. Foraker, Nicole M. L. Wong, Christopher Esk, Theresa A. Freeman, Ashley Moffett, James H. Keen and Frances M. Brodsky Clathrin light chain (CLC) subunits are dispensable for clathrin-mediated endocytosis of a number of cargoes. Majeed et al. report that CLCs are however required for gyrating-clathrin-dependent recycling of inactive β1-integrins, the absence of which impairs cell migration. 23 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4891 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Neuronal adaptation involves rapid expansion of the action potential initiation site OPEN Ricardo S. Scott, Christian Henneberger, Ragunathan Padmashri, Stefanie Anders, Thomas P. Jensen and Dmitri A. Rusakov Neuronal adaptation to repetitive stimuli is required for the correct functioning of neuronal networks. Here, the authors show that rapid expansion of the axonal spike-initiation site accompanied by local spike deceleration is the cell adaptation mechanism that responds to repetitive excitatory inputs. 23 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4817 Biological Sciences  Neuroscience  Association analysis identifies new risk loci for non-obstructive azoospermia in Chinese men Zhibin Hu, Zheng Li, Jun Yu, Chao Tong, Yuan Lin, Xuejiang Guo, Feng Lu, Jing Dong, Yankai Xia, Yang Wen, Hao Wu, Honggang Li, Yong Zhu, Ping Ping, Xiangfeng Chen, Juncheng Dai, Yue Jiang, Shandong Pan, Peng Xu, Kailing Luo et al. Non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) is a major cause of male infertility. Here, the authors provide insight into the genetic basis of NOA by identifying three new genetic risk loci in a genome-wide association study and reporting a fourth potential NOA susceptibility locus based on a Drosophila knockdown experiment. 23 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4857 Biological Sciences  Genetics  Structural basis for histone mimicry and hijacking of host proteins by influenza virus protein NS1 Su Qin, Yanli Liu, Wolfram Tempel, Mohammad S. Eram, Chuanbing Bian, Ke Liu, Guillermo Senisterra, Lissete Crombet, Masoud Vedadi and Jinrong Min The influenza A H3N2 subtype protein NS1 possesses a short sequence resembling the N-terminal tail of histone H3 that is used to hijack host proteins. Here, Qin et al. establish the structural basis for the imperfect NS1 mimicry, which allows the virus to target only a subset of chromatin interactors. 23 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4952 Biological Sciences  Molecular biology  The Brassica oleracea genome reveals the asymmetrical evolution of polyploid genomes OPEN Shengyi Liu, Yumei Liu, Xinhua Yang, Chaobo Tong, David Edwards, Isobel A. P. Parkin, Meixia Zhao, Jianxin Ma, Jingyin Yu, Shunmou Huang, Xiyin Wang, Junyi Wang, Kun Lu, Zhiyuan Fang, Ian Bancroft, Tae-Jin Yang, Qiong Hu, Xinfa Wang, Zhen Yue, Haojie Li et al. Brassica oleracea is plant species comprising economically important vegetable crops. Here, the authors report the draft genome sequence of B. oleracea and, through a comparative analysis with the closely related B. rapa, reveal insights into Brassica evolution and divergence of interspecific genomes and intraspecific subgenomes. 23 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4930 Biological Sciences  Evolution  Genetics  Chiral spin torque arising from proximity-induced magnetization Kwang-Su Ryu, See-Hun Yang, Luc Thomas and Stuart S. P. Parkin Domain walls can be driven at high speeds in perpendicularly magnetized nanowires grown on heavy metal underlayers due to a chiral spin torque. Here, the authors show that this torque is related to the proximity-induced magnetization in the underlayer and can be tuned through interface engineering. 23 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4910 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Agronomic conditions and crop evolution in ancient Near East agriculture José L. Araus, Juan P. Ferrio, Jordi Voltas, Mònica Aguilera and Ramón Buxó The evolution of agronomic conditions after domestication in the Fertile Crescent remains poorly understood. Here, Araus et al. show that water availability and soil fertility for crops were higher in the past and that domesticated cereals showed a progressive increase in kernel size following domestication. 23 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4953 Biological Sciences  Ecology  Evolution  Palaeontology  A global non-coding RNA system modulates fission yeast protein levels in response to stress OPEN Hui Sun Leong, Keren Dawson, Chris Wirth, Yaoyong Li, Yvonne Connolly, Duncan L. Smith, Caroline R. M. Wilkinson and Crispin J. Miller Non-coding RNAs are widely expressed, yet their functions remain poorly understood. Here, Leong et al. identify a set of antisense RNAs elevated during the yeast stress response that directly correlate with reduced protein levels, indicating a general regulatory effect of antisense expression. 23 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4947 Biological Sciences  Molecular biology  Epidermal cells help coordinate leukocyte migration during inflammation through fatty acid-fuelled matrix metalloproteinase production Christopher J. Hall, Rachel H. Boyle, Xueying Sun, Sophie M. Wicker, June P Misa, Geoffrey W. Krissansen, Cristin G. Print, Kathryn E. Crosier and Philip S. Crosier Metabolic regulation is emerging as an important component of immune response control and may be implicated in the development of inflammatory diseases. Here, the authors show that inflammatory leukocyte recruitment depends on mitochondrial metabolism in epidermal cells in zebrafish. 23 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4880 Biological Sciences  Immunology  eIF2B is a decameric guanine nucleotide exchange factor with a γ2ɛ2 tetrameric core OPEN Yuliya Gordiyenko, Carla Schmidt, Martin D. Jennings, Dijana Matak-Vinkovic, Graham D. Pavitt and Carol V. Robinson Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 2 (eIF2) initiates protein synthesis aided by its partner eIF2B, which stimulates guanine nucleotide exchange on eIF2. Here, Gordiyenko et al. show that eIF2B exists as a decamer and propose a model for its subunit arrangement that provides new insight into its function. 23 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4902 Biological Sciences  Molecular biology  A half-metallic A- and B-site-ordered quadruple perovskite oxide CaCu3Fe2Re2O12 with large magnetization and a high transition temperature Wei-tin Chen, Masaichiro Mizumaki, Hayato Seki, Mark S. Senn, Takashi Saito, Daisuke Kan, J. Paul Attfield and Yuichi Shimakawa There are only a few transition metal oxides whose conducting electrons show a strong spin polarization at sufficiently high temperatures for spin electronics applications. Here, the authors find that CaCu3Fe2Re2O12 has such spin-polarized conducting electrons and is ferrimagnetic up to 560 K. 22 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4909 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Materials science  Unexpected E-stereoselective reductive A3-coupling reaction of terminal alkynes with aldehydes and amines Wu Fan, Weiming Yuan and Shengming Ma The three-component coupling of amines, aldehydes and alkynes gives easy access to functionalized amine products. Here, the authors show a copper catalysed process where an unexpected and E-stereoselective reduction of the triple bond is observed, and furthermore develop an enantioselective variant. 22 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4884 Chemical Sciences  Catalysis  Organic chemistry  Magnetically driven suppression of nematic order in an iron-based superconductor S. Avci, O. Chmaissem, J.M. Allred, S. Rosenkranz, I. Eremin, A.V. Chubukov, D.E. Bugaris, D.Y. Chung, M.G. Kanatzidis, J.-P Castellan, J.A. Schlueter, H. Claus, D.D. Khalyavin, P. Manuel, A. Daoud-Aladine and R. Osborn Distinguishing the two models that have been proposed to explain stripe-like spin order in the iron-based superconductors is challenging. Avci et al. report an additional spin-ordered phase between this stripe phase and the superconducting state that suggests it originates from weak itinerant magnetism. 22 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4845 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  NRBF2 regulates autophagy and prevents liver injury by modulating Atg14L-linked phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase III activity Jiahong Lu, Liqiang He, Christian Behrends, Masatake Araki, Kimi Araki, Qing Jun Wang, Joseph M. Catanzaro, Scott L. Friedman, Wei-Xing Zong, M. Isabel Fiel, Min Li and Zhenyu Yue Autophagosome biogenesis depends on the lipid kinase Vps34 and its binding proteins Beclin 1 and Atg14L. Lu et al. identify nuclear receptor binding factor 2 (NRBF2) as a regulator of this complex, and show that loss of NRBF2 impairs autophagy, enhances cell vulnerability to endoplasmic reticulum stress and promotes necrosis in the liver. 22 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4920 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  High specificity in plant leaf metabolic responses to arbuscular mycorrhiza Rabea Schweiger, Markus C. Baier, Marcus Persicke and Caroline Müller Plant species share a core metabolome, however the extent to which metabolic responses to environmental cues are also conserved remains unclear. Schweiger et al. describe shifts in the leaf metabolomes of five plant species during mycorrhizal fungal infection, and uncover high species-specificity. 22 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4886 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Microbiology  Plant sciences  Deactivation of carbon electrode for elimination of carbon dioxide evolution from rechargeable lithium–oxygen cells Seok Ju Kang, Takashi Mori, Satoru Narizuka, Winfried Wilcke and Ho-Cheol Kim Carbon dioxide evolution during the charging process in lithium–oxygen batteries is generally both unavoidable and undesirable. Here, Kang et al. use an ionic solvate of dimethoxyethane and lithium nitrate to deactivate the carbon electrode, which completely eliminates the evolution of carbon dioxide. 22 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4937 Chemical Sciences  Materials science  Physical chemistry  Mixed lineage kinases activate MEK independently of RAF to mediate resistance to RAF inhibitors OPEN Anna A. Marusiak, Zoe C. Edwards, Willy Hugo, Eleanor W. Trotter, Maria R. Girotti, Natalie L. Stephenson, Xiangju Kong, Michael G. Gartside, Shameem Fawdar, Andrew Hudson, Wolfgang Breitwieser, Nicholas K. Hayward, Richard Marais, Roger S. Lo and John Brognard B-Raf is mutated in many melanomas but treatment of the disease with small molecules targeting the mutant protein often results in tumour resistance. Here, the authors show that mixed lineage kinases (MLK1-4) can reactivate the B-Raf signalling pathway in the presence of inhibitors, resulting in drug resistance. 22 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4901 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Medical research  Excitonic effects from geometric order and disorder explain broadband optical absorption in eumelanin Chun-Teh Chen, Chern Chuang, Jianshu Cao, Vincent Ball, David Ruch and Markus J. Buehler Eumelanin is a biological pigment capable of broadband absorption, but the origin of this ability has been unclear. Here, the authors consider various eumelanin models and conclude that a combination of ordering stacking interactions coupled with geometric disorder gives rise to the broad absorption profile. 22 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4859 Biophysics  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Direct contribution of the seagrass Thalassia testudinum to lime mud production OPEN Susana Enríquez and Nadine Schubert Seagrass beds are effective blue-carbon sinks, yet their role as a lime mud source in the tropical carbonate factory is less well known. Here, the authors demonstrate that the species Thalassia testudinum can significantly contribute to carbonate production via the precipitation of aragonite needles. 22 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4835 Earth Sciences  Biogeochemistry  Climate science  Modulation of dopamine release in the striatum by physiologically relevant levels of nicotine Li Wang, Shujiang Shang, Xinjiang Kang, Sasa Teng, Feipeng Zhu, Bin Liu, Qihui Wu, Mingli Li, Wei Liu, Huadong Xu, Li Zhou, Ruiying Jiao, Haiqiang Dou, Panli Zuo, Xiaoyu Zhang, Lianghong Zheng, Shirong Wang, Changhe Wang and Zhuan Zhou Nicotine exposure from cigarette smoke modulates dopamine release in the brain, which is implicated in nicotine addiction, but how it does this is unclear. Here, in mouse brain slices, the authors show that nicotine inhibits cholinergic- but not dopaminergic-dependent dopamine release. 21 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4925 Biological Sciences  Neuroscience  An electrochemical system for efficiently harvesting low-grade heat energy Seok Woo Lee, Yuan Yang, Hyun-Wook Lee, Hadi Ghasemi, Daniel Kraemer, Gang Chen and Yi Cui Thermoelectric devices can convert low-grade heat sources into electricity, but suffer from low efficiency. Here, Lee et al. present a thermally regenerative electrochemical device with copper hexacyanoferrate electrode material, which enables efficient heat-to-electricity energy conversion. 21 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4942 Chemical Sciences  Materials science  Physical chemistry  Physiological and genomic features of highly alkaliphilic hydrogen-utilizing Betaproteobacteria from a continental serpentinizing site OPEN Shino Suzuki, J. Gijs Kuenen, Kira Schipper, Suzanne van der Velde, Shun'ichi Ishii, Angela Wu, Dimitry Y. Sorokin, Aaron Tenney, XianYing Meng, Penny L. Morrill, Yoichi Kamagata, Gerard Muyzer and Kenneth H. Nealson Microbes can dwell in highly alkaline environments in the absence of obvious food sources. Here, the authors describe physiological and genomic features of a group of bacteria that live on hydrogen, calcium carbonate and oxygen at a very high pH. 21 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4900 Biological Sciences  Ecology  Microbiology  Knockdown and knockout of β1-integrin in hepatocytes impairs liver regeneration through inhibition of growth factor signalling Tobias Speicher, Beat Siegenthaler, Roman L. Bogorad, Raphael Ruppert, Tobias Petzold, Susagna Padrissa-Altes, Marc Bachofner, Daniel G. Anderson, Victor Koteliansky, Reinhard Fässler and Sabine Werner Integrin signalling has been implicated in liver regeneration but the molecular processes are not well understood. Here the authors show that β1-integrin is required for liver regeneration and that its absence impairs ligand-induced activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor in mice. 21 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4862 Biological Sciences  Medical research  Pathogenic potential of interferon αβ in acute influenza infection OPEN Sophia Davidson, Stefania Crotta, Teresa M McCabe and Andreas Wack Interferon αβ(IFNαβ) is known as a potent anti-viral factor, yet its role in influenza infection remains controversial. Here, the authors show that the IFNαβ response is a critical host factor, which, when excessive, causes strong inflammation and severe disease in a mouse model of acute influenza infection. 21 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4864 Biological Sciences  Immunology  Virology  The β-hydroxybutyrate receptor HCA2 activates a neuroprotective subset of macrophages Mahbubur Rahman, Sajjad Muhammad, Mahtab A. Khan, Hui Chen, Dirk A. Ridder, Helge Müller-Fielitz, Barbora Pokorná, Tillman Vollbrandt, Ines Stölting, Roger Nadrowitz, Jürgen G Okun, Stefan Offermanns and Markus Schwaninger The ketone body β-hydroxybutyrate is produced in the liver in response to a ketogenic diet. Here, Rahman et al. show that β-hydroxybutyrate mediates the neuroprotective effect of a ketogenic diet by activating the HCA2 receptor on a neuroprotective subset of macrophages. 21 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4944 Biological Sciences  Medical research  Neuroscience  Ice sheets as a significant source of highly reactive nanoparticulate iron to the oceans OPEN Jon R. Hawkings, Jemma L. Wadham, Martyn Tranter, Rob Raiswell, Liane G. Benning, Peter J. Statham, Andrew Tedstone, Peter Nienow, Katherine Lee and Jon Telling Glacial meltwaters may help fertilize the iron-limited Polar Oceans, yet the contribution is poorly constrained. Hawkings et al. monitor iron fluxes during a full-melt season in Greenland, and propose that ice sheets provide highly reactive and potentially bioavailable iron, comparable with aeolian dust fluxes. 21 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4929 Earth Sciences  Climate science  Oceanography  Nanoparticle-formulated siRNA targeting integrins inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma progression in mice Roman L. Bogorad, Hao Yin, Anja Zeigerer, Hidenori Nonaka, Vera M. Ruda, Marino Zerial, Daniel G. Anderson and Victor Koteliansky Integrin proteins regulate important cellular processes such as proliferation and differentiation. Here the authors show that siRNA-mediated knockdown of two integrin subunits slows down progression of hepatocellular carcinoma in mice by reducing activation of the MET oncogene. 21 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4869 Biological Sciences  Medical research  Global meta-analysis reveals low consistency of biodiversity congruence relationships Martin J. Westgate, Philip S. Barton, Peter W. Lane and David B. Lindenmayer For comprehensive biodiversity conservation efforts, knowledge of the number and distribution of species is required. Here, Westgate et al. perform a meta-analysis to show that studies of cross-taxon congruence rarely give consistent results between different locations, undermining the assumption that a subset of taxa can be representative of biodiversity. 21 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4899 Biological Sciences  Ecology  CRL4ACRBN E3 ubiquitin ligase restricts BK channel activity and prevents epileptogenesis Jiye Liu, Jia Ye, Xiaolong Zou, Zhenghao Xu, Yan Feng, Xianxian Zou, Zhong Chen, Yuezhou Li and Yong Cang Ion channel mutations are implicated in epilepsy but post-translational modification of these channels is poorly understood. Here, Liu et al. show that mice with mutations in a specific E3 ubiquitin ligase that post-translationally modifies voltage-activated potassium channels may also contribute to epilepsy symptoms. 21 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4924 Biological Sciences  Neuroscience  Enolate chemistry with anion–π interactions Yingjie Zhao, Naomi Sakai and Stefan Matile Interactions between anions and π-systems are possible with electron-poor aromatic surfaces. Here the authors show that anion-π interactions can stabilize enolates—lowering the pKa of the carbonyl compound by almost two units—and likewise accelerate the addition of enolates to electrophiles. 21 May 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms4911 Chemical Sciences  Catalysis  Organic chemistry  Physical chemistry    Nature Communications JOBS of the week Postdoctoral Research Fellow University of Dundee Research Assistant Imperial College London PhD Researcher KU Leuven Postdoctoral Research Associate Durham University Postdoctoral research scholar University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine PhD student (f / m) Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen e.V. 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