Who calls the shots? p.129

doi: 10.1038/488129a

Take a look p.129

doi: 10.1038/488129b

Stem-cell pioneer banks on future therapies

doi: 10.1038/488139a

Heatwaves blamed on global warming

doi: 10.1038/488143a

Mars rover sizes up the field

doi: 10.1038/488137a

Britain’s big bet on graphene

doi: 10.1038/488140a

Physics prize dwarfs all others

doi: 10.1038/488144a

Cancer research: Open ambition

doi: 10.1038/488148a

Extreme mechanics: Buckling down

doi: 10.1038/488146a

AstrobiologyFrontier or fiction p.160

doi: 10.1038/488160a

PalaeoanthropologyFacing up to complexity p.162

doi: 10.1038/488162a

50 & 100 years ago p.163

doi: 10.1038/488163b

OpticsGain and loss mixed in the same cauldron p.163

doi: 10.1038/488163a

Atmospheric chemistryThe X factor p.164

doi: 10.1038/488164a

Structural biologyDynamic binding p.165

doi: 10.1038/488165a

Parity–time synthetic photonic lattices p.167

doi: 10.1038/nature11298

Deconstruction of a neural circuit for hunger p.172

Hunger is a complex behavioural state that elicits intense food seeking and consumption. These behaviours are rapidly recapitulated by activation of starvation-sensitive AGRP neurons, which present an entry point for reverse-engineering neural circuits for hunger. Here we mapped synaptic interactions of AGRP neurons with multiple cell populations in mice and probed the contribution of these distinct circuits to feeding behaviour using optogenetic and pharmacogenetic techniques. An inhibitory circuit with paraventricular hypothalamus (PVH) neurons substantially accounted for acute AGRP neuron-evoked eating, whereas two other prominent circuits were insufficient. Within the PVH, we found that AGRP neurons target and inhibit oxytocin neurons, a small population that is selectively lost in Prader–Willi syndrome, a condition involving insatiable hunger. By developing strategies for evaluating molecularly defined circuits, we show that AGRP neuron suppression of oxytocin neurons is critical for evoked feeding. These experiments reveal a new neural circuit that regulates hunger state and pathways associated with overeating disorders.

doi: 10.1038/nature11270

Gut microbiota composition correlates with diet and health in the elderly p.178

Alterations in intestinal microbiota composition are associated with several chronic conditions, including obesity and inflammatory diseases. The microbiota of older people displays greater inter-individual variation than that of younger adults. Here we show that the faecal microbiota composition from 178 elderly subjects formed groups, correlating with residence location in the community, day-hospital, rehabilitation or in long-term residential care. However, clustering of subjects by diet separated them by the same residence location and microbiota groupings. The separation of microbiota composition significantly correlated with measures of frailty, co-morbidity, nutritional status, markers of inflammation and with metabolites in faecal water. The individual microbiota of people in long-stay care was significantly less diverse than that of community dwellers. Loss of community-associated microbiota correlated with increased frailty. Collectively, the data support a relationship between diet, microbiota and health status, and indicate a role for diet-driven microbiota alterations in varying rates of health decline upon ageing.

doi: 10.1038/nature11319

Quantum teleportation and entanglement distribution over 100-kilometre free-space channels p.185

doi: 10.1038/nature11332

A III–V nanowire channel on silicon for high-performance vertical transistors p.189

doi: 10.1038/nature11293

A new atmospherically relevant oxidant of sulphur dioxide p.193

doi: 10.1038/nature11278

Water balance of global aquifers revealed by groundwater footprint p.197

doi: 10.1038/nature11295

New fossils from Koobi Fora in northern Kenya confirm taxonomic diversity in early Homo p.201

doi: 10.1038/nature11322

A transitional snake from the Late Cretaceous period of North America p.205

doi: 10.1038/nature11227

Atmospheric CO₂ forces abrupt vegetation shifts locally, but not globally p.209

doi: 10.1038/nature11238

The banana (Musa acuminata) genome and the evolution of monocotyledonous plants p.213

doi: 10.1038/nature11241

Human dorsal anterior cingulate cortex neurons mediate ongoing behavioural adaptation p.218

doi: 10.1038/nature11239

HVEM signalling at mucosal barriers provides host defence against pathogenic bacteria p.222

doi: 10.1038/nature11242

Programmed elimination of cells by caspase-independent cell extrusion in C. elegans p.226

doi: 10.1038/nature11240

Site-specific DICER and DROSHA RNA products control the DNA-damage response p.231

doi: 10.1038/nature11179

Protein activity regulation by conformational entropy p.236

doi: 10.1038/nature11271